Turkey's ruling AK Party is close to finalising its proposal on constitutional reform and will meet with the nationalist opposition one more time to iron out the details, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in a speech in parliament on Tuesday. Devlet Bahceli, leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said earlier he believed the bill — which would pave the way for the executive presidency long sought by President Tayyip Erdogan — could be sent to the constitutional commission once "one or two" issues are overcome. After the commission stage, the bill would be put to parliament's general assembly which will vote on whether to take the issue to a referendum. Turkey's nationalist opposition has made "significant progress" in talks with the ruling AK Party on its planned constitutional reform bill, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) said on Tuesday. Turkey's ruling AK Party will submit to parliament within two weeks a draft constitution reform law that will expand presidential powers, the head of the assembly's constitutional commission said on Monday. Dogan news agency cited the AKP's Mustafa Sentop as saying Turkey's constitution and parliamentary system needed to be changed for the sake of Turkey's progress. "We will give to parliament within 15 days the proposal. We will present a constitutional change for our people's proposal in a referendum in the spring months," he told a university conference in northwest Turkey on Monday. The AKP is seeking support from the nationalist MHP opposition in order to win the necessary parliamentary approval for the reform before taking it to a referendum. President Tayyip Erdogan could govern Turkey until 2029, officials who have seen a draft of the reform told Reuters earlier this month. — Reuters
