In a night-long session, lawmakers voted in favor of a set of amendments presented by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which was founded by current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2003. The reform bill is designed to widen Erdogan’s powers, who presently only occupies a largely ceremonial role. A narrow winThe vote took place with 488 lawmakers out of the 550-seat assembly in attendance. The measure required at least 330 votes to be approved and be put forward to a plebiscite. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim celebrated the result saying “we are now entrusting this to the people, its actual owners.

Source: Daily News Egypt January 21, 2017 12:17 UTC