ISTANBUL, Aug. 11 (Reuters) - A Turkish opinion poll on Wednesday showed for the first time voters narrowly rejecting proposed constitutional reforms in a Sept. 12 referendum seen as a test of support for the government ahead of a 2011 election.
The survey by pollsters Sonar for the nationalist, anti-government Sozcu newspaper put the "No" vote at 50.9 percent and the "Yes" camp on 49.1 percent. A poll a month ago pointed to an even split in votes.
The latest poll was carried out between Aug 1-9 and was based on responses from 4,000 people across 25 provinces. Sonar, widely used by Turkish media for election polls, said it had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percent.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan says the reforms will bring the constitution, drafted after a 1980 military coup, in line with those of the European Union, which Turkey seeks to join.
A "No" would be a serious blow to the government’s reform plans and hurt AK party morale going into next year’s parliamentary election.
None of parliament’s opposition parties backs the reforms and critics argue the government is using them to increase its control over the judiciary.
The Sonar poll showed the "Yes" camp consisted largely of AK Party voters, supporters of a small Islamist party and 7 percent of voters who normally support the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which is campaigning for a "No".
Just over 5 percent of respondents did not express a preference or said they would boycott the referendum.
However, the poll also showed Erdogan’s AK party ahead of its rivals based on general election voting preferences, with 37.2 percent of the vote, followed by the CHP with 31.2 percent.
A parliamentary election is due by July 2011.
