Turkish PM: Constitutional change ’good’ for region

Binali Yildirim, addressing the parliament’s general assembly late on Monday, said:

"Turkey has significant responsibilities in the region. Thus, we have to be powerful and have strong political stability.

“We will achieve it with this constitutional change."

The Turkish current constitution dates back in parts to Turkey’s military regime of the 1980s.

Yildirim asserted the changes his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party was proposing would "completely solve the political problems".

On Tuesday, the parliament will start debating the articles of a landmark bill one by one to decide whether to vote them into law.

The Turkish government has been seeking to replace the current parliamentary system with a presidential one, saying there are flaws in the system that hold back Turkey’s development.