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Ankara, Turkey (UPI) Sep 13, 2010 The United States and the European Union have lauded a Turkish referendum on changes to the military-era constitution, a reform critics say threatens Turkey's secular principles. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was beaming when he addressed his supporters after the results from Sunday's vote surfaced. "Sept. 12 will go down in history as a turning point in Turkish democracy," Erdogan said. "You will always be remembered for this, we will always be remembered for this." Some 58 percent of Turkish voters Sunday voted in favor of a package of 26 changes to the country's constitution, drafted 30 years ago after a 1980 military coup. The reform, championed by Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party, weakens the position of the military in the judicial system, increases civil oversight of the courts and lifts immunity for senior coup leaders. The package was drafted to make the country's constitution fit for EU membership, a process that has been slowed down by Europe's enlargement fatigue. Brussels nevertheless hailed the reform plans. EU Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fuele called the changes "a step in the right direction as they address a number of long-standing priorities in Turkey's efforts toward fully complying with the accession criteria." U.S. President Barack Obama in a telephone call to Erdogan acknowledged "the vibrancy of Turkey's democracy as reflected in the turnout for the referendum that took place across Turkey," the White House said. However, the reforms have revealed deep divisions in Turkish society. Large parts of the opposition say the constitutional amendments are part of a hidden agenda to undermine secularism and turn Turkey into an Islamist state. Erdogan denies the charge vehemently but voting results reveal that while the country's Anatolian provinces, in the east, backed his reform, the richer and more educated western regions voted against it. Observers are also concerned about Turkey's changing role in international politics. Strongly opposed to sanctions against Iran, Erdogan has forged stable diplomatic bonds with leaders in Tehran. At the same time, Ankara's traditionally solid relations with Israel took a turn for the worse when Israel launched an offensive in Gaza in the winter of 2008-09. Things escalated when Israel launched a deadly commando operation on a Gaza aid flotilla this summer, killing several Turkish nationals. Erdogan, in an unusually fierce tirade, denounced the operation as "state terrorism," vowing that relations with Israel would never be the same again.
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