ANKARA, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Ankara unveiled on Friday plans to expand the rights of Turkey's Kurdish population including the creation of an independent body to investigate cases of torture and the loosening of restrictions on Kurdish language.

The government reform initiative is seen boosting Turkey's hopes of European Union membership and stopping a conflict in which more than 40,000 people have died [ID:nLA249004].

The initiative builds on steps which Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party (AKP) government has already taken to expand cultural rights for Kurds, such as the launch of a state-run Kurdish language television channel.

"An independent anti-discrimination commission will be established and a bill related to this will be sent to parliament," Interior Minister Besir Atalay told parliament.

The commission will aim to prevent torture and mistreatment.

Atalay said Turkey needs a new, libertarian constitution as the existing one does not meet Turkey's needs. The AK Party also plans to allow Kurdish to be used during political campaigning.

"The steps that will allow the political parties to address the people in different languages and dialects used by the citizens during election campaigns are among these," Atalay said, listing the government reform moves.

Kurdish-majority towns will officially be able to regain their old Kurdish names replacing their new, Turkish names.

The main opposition parties fiercely oppose the reform process, arguing it threatens to undermine Turkey's unity.

The minister said Turkey would remain a unitary state, and the basic characteristics of the state would be untouched.

Erdogan will address the assembly later on Friday.

A small group of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels and sympathisers have already returned to Turkey and were released by the state authorities as a tentative step towards ending the conflict that has continued since 1984.

PKK violence has dwindled over the last couple of years after a series of Turkish air raids on their bases in northern Iraq, which has severely affected the group's ability to stage cross-border raids into southeast Turkey. (Reporting by Pinar Aydinli, Writing by Selcuk Gokoluk; Editing by Charles Dick)

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