The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is preparing to consult the Turkish public on a new constitution, a move that has gained momentum since last year’s parliamentary elections.
In addition to input from experts and academics, the party will hold public meetings to receive suggestions from ordinary citizens on new basic laws.
The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been pushing for a revision of the Turkish constitution for over a decade. It was imposed in 1982 after a military coup that led to the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of people, mass trials, torture and executions and remains a dark period in Turkish political history.
Erdoğan insists the Turkish nation deserves “a civil, libertarian and inclusive” new constitution, and his AK Party has a comprehensive draft drawn up by a scientific council during the pandemic.
The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is allied with the AK Party, also has a draft constitution with over 100 articles.
The goal is to produce a final draft that takes into account the preparations of both parties and the opinions of the public. Officials said this could include opposing views and provide a valuable framework for finding common ground.
At the beginning of the new legislative period in October, the party will convene a workshop to discuss a roadmap for a new constitution with the participation of academics and legal experts.
Until then, AK Party officials will hold public presentations outlining the gaps in the current constitution and the problems they create in order to convince the public of a new constitution with a detailed action plan.
Politicians are convinced that the expression of different opinions in a participatory environment will stimulate the constructive debate needed to draft a new constitution.
The party, which is seeking a completely new, civil document, guarantees that the new constitution will be long-term and that the fundamental goal of decision-makers will be to protect the public interest at the highest level.
Since its establishment, the modern Turkish state has been governed under four constitutions. The first was adopted in 1921 and amended in 1924 and 1961 before the 1982 constitution came into force.
The document has been amended nearly 20 times over the years to keep pace with global and regional geopolitical conjectures, with the most notable changes introduced through referendums in 2010, by allowing the 1980 coup plot to be tried in civil courts, and in 2017 by replacing the parliamentary system with an executive presidency.
The AK Party attempted reform in 2007 by appointing a commission to prepare a draft, but it was shelved due to strong opposition criticism. Since then, the party has been working on “stronger” material. Its proposed amendments focused on freedom, the right to security, the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression, and the rights of women and people with disabilities.
Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş has also held talks with most political parties over the past six months and said that there was generally a positive consensus on a new constitution. However, the largest opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), was “still far from being at the negotiating table.”
