Over the weekend, the Parliamentary Constitution Commission approved the constitutional amendment package, without making any changes to its wording, and forwarded it to the office of the parliamentary speaker to be tabled for debate later Monday.
Part of the package included an amendment to the constitution that would have allowed for the president to be elected by a popular vote, rather than by the parliament as is currently the case.
If, as expected, the amendments are approved by the parliament a second time, they will be sent to the office of the president for ratification.
Under Turkish law, the president can only veto legislation once. If passed by the parliament unchanged in a second vote, the president must ratify the legislation, but may lodge an appeal with the Constitutional Court to rule on its validity under the constitution.
