ANKARA - Turkey's governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Thursday submitted to parliament a draft consitutional amendment to lower the age of parliamentary eligibility from 30 to 25.
The main opposition center-left Republican People's Party backed the proposal lawmakers are expected to start debating next week.
The AKP said the amendment aimed to bring Turkish electoral law in line with European standards.
"The treshhold of 30 years for members of parliament is too high in a country where 60 percent of the population is aged under 30," the proposal said.
Turkey's next parliamentary elections are scheduled for November 2007.
Under the constitution, the amendment must be finalized before the end of the month to become effective in time for the next vote.
10/05/2006 13:56 GMT