ISTANBUL —Turkey's government on Tuesday unveiled proposed amendments to the country's military-drafted constitution that would significantly change the balance of power in this sharply divided nation. The 26 amendments would increase civilian control of the armed forces, and give Turkey's parliament and president more influence over key judicial bodies. Turkey's courts came close to banning the ruling Justice and Development party, or AKP, in 2007, and blocked its attempt to relax laws banning the wearing of head scarves in universities. The government hailed the proposed changes as a boon to democracy and to European Union (EU) membership talks, while opponents slammed them as a political power grab that could result in political turmoil. The proposal was "made in the AKP's kitchen" and for its own interests, said Deniz Baykal, leader of the opposition Republican People's Party. Drafted in the wake of a 1980 military coup, Turkey's constitution has been the target of sustained criticism from the Council of Europe, an intergovernmental watchdog for civil and human rights, and from the EU, which has set constitutional reform and subordination of the military to civilian control as requirements for Turkey's EU membership talks. "This has to be seen more as a first step than a sufficient step" towards meeting those concerns, said Thomas Markert, Secretary of the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe body that advises members on constitutional reform, in a phone interview.
