Türkiye’s political parties are giving unprejudiced support for a brand-new constitution, according to Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş.
“I have seen that they are prepared to contribute to the process and support, without prejudice, the work on drafting a new constitution,” Kurtulmuş told Turkish newspaper Sabah after spending the last week in consultation talks with parliamentary party groups in Ankara.
“We are determined to unload the dark burden of the 1980 coup off our nation’s back and we want a civil, democratic, libertarian new constitution,” the Parliament speaker said. “Sincerity is the foundational principle for the process to go smoothly and that’s the code by which I operate.”
Kurtulmuş has visited main opposition’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) and other parties at Parliament to test the ground for overhauling Türkiye’s coup-era Constitution, a topic that picked up momentum after last year’s general elections.
The debate over the Constitution has been lengthy and for more than a decade, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), championed the struggle to gain the support of other political parties to draft a new constitution.
The opposition has been reluctant and, at times, outright hostile to the attempts to create a new constitution. Their reasons were mostly political and they opposed a constitution to be “imposed” upon them by the government, despite Erdoğan’s repeated remarks that they want to consult with other parties before starting the work.
The current Constitution was enforced in 1982 following a military coup that led to the detention of hundreds of thousands of people along with mass trials, torture and executions, which still represents a dark period in Turkish political history.
The document has undergone nearly 20 amendments over the years to keep up with global and regional geopolitical conjectures. The most notable changes were introduced via referendums in 2010 by enabling the trialing of the 1980 coup plotters in civil courts and in 2017 by replacing the parliamentary system with an executive presidency.
In 2007, Erdoğan’s AK Party attempted an overhaul when it employed a commission to produce a draft, which was shelved upon heated criticism from the opposition.
Since then, the party has been working on “stronger” material. Its proposed changes focus on freedom, the right to security, the right to a fair trial, freedom of speech, and the rights of women and the disabled. The enhancement of these rights and liberties has seen setbacks in the bureaucracy that have prevented them from being appropriately implemented.
Threats to process
According to Kurtulmuş, the correct method of creating a brand-new constitution is one all parties can agree on at Parliament.
He dismissed the claims that the current Parliament couldn’t make a new constitution since it’s not a constituent assembly and said: “The authority of Parliament, which is publicly elected and representing 95% of the people, to create a constitution is unquestionable.”
“The constitutional process, which should be a text of social consensus, should not be turned into a process of social separation. We hope that there will be an agreement with over 400 votes in Parliament for this,” Kurtulmuş added.
He said there are no set articles or a prepared draft yet.
“Our transparency, clarity and good intentions are guiding the process.”
The lawmakers are eager for the input and feedback of nongovernmental institutions, universities, academicians, human rights groups and the general public, as well.
Kurtulmuş said anyone who expressed their “sincere” opinions is welcome to the table but strongly rejected any attempts to “disrupt” the process with “false opposition.”
“The biggest threat is outside factions that might want to poison this process,” Kurtulmuş argued without naming anyone. “Therefore, if politicians can shake hands with well intentions, these factions wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Possibility of referendum
The new constitution was a top item for Erdoğan and CHP leader Özgür Özel too as the pair met on Thursday for a rare in-person talks.
Erdoğan told Özel the need for a civil constitution fitting modern standards while Özel insisted CHP wouldn’t participate in draft talks “as long as the current Constitution is not executed.”
Erdoğan’s AK Party is aiming to pen a constitution with 90-100 articles, as opposed to the 177 articles and 16 temporary items in the current document.
“But if the opposition refuses to support our draft, we will take our proposal to the public,” an AK Party official said last year.
At least 400 lawmakers must ratify a new constitution draft in Parliament. Anything over 360 votes would allow a referendum, allowing the people to decide.
The AK Party retained 268 seats in the May 14 parliamentary polls, far higher than its closest rival CHP, which won 169 seats. The AK Party, however, is part of the People’s Alliance, which also includes its closest ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and together, they have 323 seats.
