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                 Turkish Lawmaker Calls for Dropping Secularism

   by VOA News

   The speaker of the Turkish parliament has spoken out in favor of a new
   constitution based on religious principles, in direct contrast to the
   secular basis on which modern Turkey was founded.

   Ismail Kahraman of the ruling AK party said in a speech late Monday
   that the text of a new constitution should not contain wording about
   secularism. He said as a majority Muslim nation, Turkey should not be
   "in a retreat from religion."

   The AK party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been pushing for a
   new constitution and increased powers for the president, a move that
   critics say could concentrate too much power in the hands of an
   authoritarian government.

   Turkey's current constitution is inherited from a military government
   that followed a coup in 1980.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/turkish-lawmaker-calls-for-dropping-s
   ecularism/3302826.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/turkish-lawmaker-calls-for-dropping-secularism/3302826.html