Turkish Parliament
Turkish ParliamentReuters

Turkey’s parliament on Sunday night moved a step closer to approving a constitutional reform package that would pave the way for a presidential system, The Associated Press reports.

In a light-night session in Ankara, a majority of lawmakers voted in favor of the final article in the controversial package presented by the ruling AKP party.

Legislators have now approved all 18 articles in the reform package which would overhaul the constitution and boost the powers of the presidency, according to AP.

A second and final round of voting is needed to confirm the result. If the reform bill should secure at least 330 votes in the 550-seat assembly, it would then be put to a national referendum.

Legislators will convene again on January 18 and should conclude voting by January 21.

The constitutional reform was first introduced in late 2015 and would greatly increase the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Critics of the reform say it would essentially turn Turkey into a dictatorship. Erdogan’s supporters reject this notion.

Erdogan has steered the country from being largely secular to being ever increasingly Islamist.

Turkey has also increasingly cracked down on the press, on social media by shuttering Twitter and Facebook at several junctures, and even cracking down on criticism of its leader.

Most recently, the head of a cafeteria at the Turkish opposition newspaper Cumhuriyetwas detained on charges of insulting Erdogan, after he said he would refuse to serve him tea.

Turkey has increased its cracked down on dissent since a failed coup in July. Staff at the Cumhuriyet are among tens of thousands of people who have been detained, suspended or sacked during that time.