On September 12, Turkey’s voters approved a package of 26 amendments to the country’s long-established secularist constitution. The amendments presented to the voters comprised of reforms to the Constitutional Court, strengthening of labor rights, and enhancement of women’s status, among other changes Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has trumpeted – especially to Europeans, but also to the Obama administration – as democratizing.  Erdogan has promised Turks a complete revision of their constitution.

The constitutional changes approved by Turkish voters were presented as a single option, requiring a “yes” or “no” vote for all 26 amendments, rather than polling on each.  The referendum gained 58 percent of the ballots, in a turnout of 77 percent of the electorate.  With the success of the constitutional changes, many observers inside and outside Turkey fear further Islamist entrenchment in power by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Erdogan. Secular citizens, and moderate members of Turkish and Kurdish minority groups, warn that the referendum marks a further step in the repositioning of their country toward an alliance with neighboring Iran.