Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (left) and Turkish President Abdullah Gul cast their vote
Turkish voters have given strong backing to constitutional changes, early results suggest.
With 91% of votes counted, 59% voted “Yes” to amending the constitution, reported Turkish broadcaster NTV.
The opposition argues that the governing party, which has its roots in political Islam, is seeking dangerous levels of control over the judiciary.
The government says it wants to bring the constitution more in line with European Union standards.
Early opinion polls had predicted a close result. If confirmed, the strong “Yes” vote would boost the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
His Justice and Development Party (AKP) has clashed repeatedly with Turkey’s highest courts, which see themselves as guardians of the country’s secular values.
The opposition say two amendments would give the government excessive influence over the judiciary.
They accuse the AKP of trying to seize control of the judiciary as part of a back-door Islamist coup.
The 26 amendments, many of them backed by the European Union, were presented to the voters as improvements to the 1982 constitution, says the BBC’s Jonathan Head in Istanbul.
That constitution was drawn up by a military junta which seized power in a coup exactly 30 years ago, on 12 September 1980.
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