MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On April 16, the Turks would vote on the issues of constitution amendments that could result in expanding the country's presidential powers.
"The Venice Commission warns that by removing necessary checks and balances, the amendments would not follow the model of a democratic presidential system based on the separation of powers, and instead would risk degeneration into an authoritarian presidential system," the statement said about the proposed amendments to the Turkish constitution.
The commission added that the approval of the amendments would vest the Turkish leader with "unsupervised authority" to appoint and dismiss high-ranking officials, including ministers, to have influence over the parliament and would decrease the powers of legislative and judicial branches of power.
Supporters of the amendments consider that the package should be adopted, because the current constitution is out-of-date while the amendments would bring the stability to the country’s politics. According to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the referendum would end conflicts between the branches of government.
