Country of origin information report Turkey March 2007

March: Law No. 4748: further reform package. [71a] (p25)

July: Pressure for early elections as eight ministers including Foreign Minister Cem resign over ailing PM Ecevit's refusal to step down amid growing economic, political turmoil. Cem launches new party committed to social democracy, EU membership.

August: Parliament approves reforms aimed at securing EU membership. Death sentence to be abolished except in times of war, bans on Kurdish education, broadcasting to be lifted.

November: General election the AKP won two-thirds of the seats. President Sezer subsequently appointed AKP Deputy Leader Abdullah Gül as Prime Minister. [1d] (p1171)

December: Constitutional changes allow head of ruling AK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to run for parliament, and so to become prime minister. He had been barred from public office because of previous criminal conviction.
2003 January: The Turkish Government passes the fifth reform package allowing Turkish citizens who are found to have been denied a fair trial by the ECtHR to be retried in Turkey. [1d] (p1171)