The proposed changes would give the president more control over appointment of judges to the Constitutional Court, make it harder to ban political parties, and make military personnell liable to prosecution in civil, rather than military courts.

Opponents accuse the AK Party, which has a huge majority in parliament, of using liberal reform as a cover for efforts to consolidate its power and promote a secret Islamist agenda.

They threaten to ask the Constitutional Court to block the package.

Senior judges joined a chorus of criticism on Monday, one charging that the changes would encroach on the principle of separation of powers.

But Erdogan, who also faces opposition from the armed forces over allegations of coup plots by military officers, suggested it was that very separation that the judges were challenging by entering into political debate.

“They should give up interfering in executive and legislative powers,” Erdogan told parliament.

The ruling AK Party, which denies Islamist ambitions, defends the legal changes as an important step in a European Union (EU) accession process that demands a clearer separation of legislative, executive and judicial processes.

The EU has specifically criticized a political parties law, under which almost 20 parties have been banned since the constitution was adopted in 1982 following a coup.

The vaguely worded law cedes broad powers of interpretation to judges.