A constitutional change, to make it more difficult for the Supreme Court to dissolve parties, failed to pass.

[5] Military officers who commit crimes against the state, such as preparing coup plans, will be tried in civilian courts.

[7] The Economic and Social Council (ESK), which comprises representatives from unions, associations and confederations, will be given constitutional protection.

Measures enacted to ensure equal rights for men and women will not be interpreted as contrary to the principle of equality,[9] nor those enacted to protect children, elderly people, disabled people, widows and orphans of martyrs as well as for invalid and veterans.

The Constitutional Court will obtain a more democratic structure, consisting of two parts and functioning as a general assembly.

The changes were passed in parliament in late April and early May 2010 with over 330 votes,[12] below the two-thirds majority of 367 votes needed to pass them directly,[13] but enough to send them to a referendum within sixty days after President Abdullah Gül signs the law.

[14] The composition of the parliament (550 seats) during the voting was as follows: AKP: 336, CHP: 97, MHP: 69, BDP: 20, Independent: 12, DSP: 6, DP: 1, TP: 1.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has 336 seats, but deputy Mehmet Ali Şahin cannot vote as he is the parliament speaker.

The amendment for Article 69, which would have limited the ability of the Supreme Court to dissolve political parties, did not meet this threshold in the second round and was therefore dropped from the package.

[15] The main opposition party CHP not only argues that the constitutional package includes unconstitutional reforms, but also that it was passed through procedural violations.

With this claim, the CHP alleges that the AKP is attempting to change one of Turkey's constitutional articles that cannot be amended.

Judges annulled certain parts of two articles, but rejected the demands of the Turkish opposition to scrap the whole package on technical grounds.

The partially annulled articles pertain to the structure of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK).

[18][19][20] Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the opposition represented by the Republican People's Party (CHP), could not vote because of a mix-up over where he should cast his ballot.

The Human Rights Association launched a petition to try Kenan Evren over his role in the 1980 coup, as Evren defended the coup, saying military intervention was needed to bring an end to years of violence between leftist and rightist factions.

Hüseyin Çelik, the deputy chairman of the AKP, said the party's agenda would now be to work on a new constitution after the 2011 elections.