ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's prime minister on Monday unveiled a long-awaited package of proposals aimed at democratic reform, including lifting some restrictions on the use of the Kurdish language.
The changes are seen as key to the political prospects of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has faced down a flurry of protests by Turks weary of what they consider his heavy-handed rule.
Erdogan and his party face a series of elections over the next two years, but it is unclear whether the new rules will go far enough to appease his critics, energize his conservative base, and help restore momentum to peace negotiations with a Kurdish minority that has been seeking more autonomy.
Erdogan called the changes a historic step in solidifying Turkey's democracy.
''Turkey is progressing in an irrevocable way on the path of democratization,'' he said.
The unveiling of the package has been delayed several times as talks with Kurdish leaders stalled. Kurdish rebels said this month they were suspending their pullout from Turkey into bases in northern Iraq, arguing that Erdogan's government had not made good on promises to enact reforms to improve Kurdish rights.
The plans had been kept under wraps until Erdogan announced them before reporters in Ankara. They stopped short of some expectations.
Kurdish groups had also demanded that Erdogan go further on liberalizing restrictions on the use of their language, so that Kurdish children would have the right to education in their mother tongue.
Kurds see current restrictions as one of the key tools of cultural repression. Kurds make up 20 percent of Turkey's nearly 75 million citizens.
Erdogan's proposal would allow private schools to have some classes in Kurdish. The reforms would also allow the letters q, w and x, which are part of the Kurdish alphabet but not the Turkish one, to be used in official documents.