The head of Turkey's Constitutional Court has said he fears it may have to rule on planned judicial reforms that are straining ties between the Islamist-rooted government and the secular establishment. His comments will be seen as a warning to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to tread carefully and seek consensus. Even though Erdogan has not yet unveiled his plans, the parliamentary opposition and much of the judiciary have already indicated they will try to block them. The reform is likely to aim to curb judges' powers and make it harder to ban political parties, after Erdogan's own AK Party narrowly avoided being outlawed by the Constitutional Court in 2008 for anti-secular activities. Court Chairman Hasim Kilic told the Hurriyet newspaper in a report published Wednesday that Turkey needed serious constitutional reform, but that this must be achieved through a broad consensus. “Initiatives to change the constitution in Turkey in recent times have caused a lot of tension,” he said.
