国际英语新闻：Turks go to polls on controversial constitutional reforms

ANKARA, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- It's 10:15 (0715 GMT) in the morning. Fifty-two-year-old housekeeper Ahmet Kandemir casts a yellow envelop into the ballot box and walks out of the room with his mission accomplished.

"Whatever the result is, I hope it will be good for Turkey and for the democratic system," Kandemir says, declining to declare his vote.

Millions of Turks like Kandemir went to polls Sunday on a constitutional amendment package backed by the government as a facilitator for democracy but opposed by critics who accuse the ruling party of wanting more control of state institutions.

Ballot stations opened at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) and close at 4 p.m. (1300 GMT) in 32 provinces of eastern Turkey, while voting lasts from 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) to 5 p.m. (1400 GMT) in the rest of the country.

Nearly 49.5 million citizens will cast votes in more than 150, 000 ballot boxes in the referendum, which is held on the 30th anniversary of a military coup, according to the semi-official Anatolia news agency.

Zumrut Tansu, a 25-year-old college graduate, leaves the polling station at the Cankaya Elementary School where Kandemir cast his vote and says she is against the amendments.

"I want turkey to become a better place so I voted no. I don't want Turkey to become worse," she says.

The fate of the highly disputed reform is likely to be a measure of support for the ruling Justice and Development Party ( AKP), which has come into power in 2002 and faces a general election in 2011.

Proposed by the AKP, the amendment bill has been strongly criticized by opposition parties and the judiciary as an AKP attempt to seize more control over the judiciary and other state institutions.

The AKP says Turkey needs to change its current constitution to improve democracy and human rights to EU standards, while accusing the judiciary of blocking many of its bills.

Seyfettin Cakin, a 30-year-old government official, says he supports the package.

"I voted yes because I have to think about the future of my children," he says after finishing the vote at Cankaya Elementary School. "I believe this package will help my kids get a better future."

Turkish national police have formed special teams that will provide security in cities and towns where people will cast votes and ballot boxes in eastern and south-eastern Turkey are carried in armored vehicles, local media reported.