The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the government has comfortably won a referendum on a series of changes to the constitution. Mr Erdogan said according to provisional results, the changes to curb the power of the army and reshape the judiciary had received almost 60% approval. The Turkish government says the amendments are needed to strengthen democracy, but opponents fear they could give the government excessive influence over the courts. From Istanbul, we get this report from Jonathan Head.

"We passed a historic milestone towards a better democracy," said the Turkish prime minister, as he announced a victory for his reform package. He promised to push for further amendments to the constitution in future but said next time he would seek a consensus with the opposition parties, an apparent acknowledgement by Mr Erdogan that the bitterly fought campaign preceding this referendum was not the best way to bring in such important changes. Critics say the mutual mudslinging stifled any proper debate of the amendments.