Turkey Passes Amendment Seen As Curbing Kurdish Votes
May 10, 2007 -- Turkish legislators have approved a constitutional amendment that would make it more difficult for Kurdish politicians to enter parliament.
Under the amendment, the names of independent candidates will figure on the same ballot paper as all the parties in the running. Currently, their names appear on separate voting slips.
Many voters in the mainly Kurdish southeast are illiterate or do not speak Turkish. Critics of the amendment warn that those voters are likely to have trouble picking their candidate's name from the long list of parties, and other independents.
(AFP, AP)