Should there be the necessary majority, the current Parliament has the ability to form a new constitution for Türkiye, according to an official of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
Speaking to reporters ahead of a “new constitution” workshop in the capital, Ankara, on Friday, AK Party Deputy Chair Hayati Yazıcı said the government aims to make a new constitution “on the condition that the untouchable articles of the Constitution remain intact.”
The workshop, the fourth of its kind since last October, is taking place at the AK Party headquarters with the participation of experts and academics.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government has been pushing to overhaul Türkiye’s Constitution for over a decade now, which 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 AK Party has a comprehensive draft prepared by a scientific council during the pandemic, which it’s hoping to submit to Parliament. AK Party ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) also has a constitutional draft including over 100 articles.
The Constitution’s first four articles, which state the essential tenets of the Turkish republic, have been subject to debate for years now.
The main opposition, the Republican People's Party (CHP), has repeatedly accused the AK Party of aiming to change the said articles, something the ruling party flatly rejects.
The current 1982 Constitution's first three articles regulate the basic principles of the country, namely: that the country is a republic; that it is a democratic, secular and social state governed by the rule of law; that its language is Turkish and capital is Ankara and that the first three articles cannot be altered.
The AK Party’s workshops have so far focused on the method of making a constitution, consulting the opinions of academics and experts; expectations of professional organizations, unions and nongovernmental organizations, as well as the framework for fundamental rights and freedoms to be included in a constitution.
According to Yazıcı, Friday’s workshop aims to explore how legislative and executive bodies should be shaped, ideas for their duties and authorities, the relations between the two bodies, and the mechanisms for balancing and monitoring one another.
“We will seek the views and suggestions regarding the practice of the presidential system of expert academics in law, public administration, political science, sociology and philosophy,” Yazıcı said.
The AK Party official assured the party plans to hold a judicial workshop next and conclude the new constitution workshops in “a few months.”
“Taking into account the knowledge that will be gained through these workshops and provided we reach the required majority, we think that this Parliament can make a constitution for the 'Century of Türkiye,'” Yazıcı said.
“Creating a constitution is the nation’s right, but the nation has not been able to use this right until now,” Yazıcı said. “Therefore, a consensus needs to form at Parliament on this. Otherwise, we cannot force lawmakers to ‘come and vote for our constitution.’”
Last summer, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş oversaw talks between political parties on a constitutional overhaul and met representatives of all parties at parliament to discuss a new constitution.
He has said the general consensus was “positive” but that the CHP “still remains far from the table.”
The CHP is inclined to reject a constitutional overhaul, with its leader, Ozgur Özel, claiming such a change has raised “other kinds of negotiations” without elaborating.
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 People’s Alliance, featuring the MHP, doesn’t have a parliamentary majority, but insiders have alleged the bloc could make new moves to persuade the opposition, including changes to the current presidential system.
In response to a question, Yazıcı said there was no “deadlock” in the presidential system but acknowledged, “There may be deficiencies and excesses observed in its implementation.”
“That is why we will also hear assessments about the presidential system,” he said.
“Constitutions are not dogmas. They are not untouchable or indispensable. Ultimately, it is people that make them, and they can always be revised according to changing needs, conditions of the time,” he added.
Since its founding, the modern Turkish state has been governed under four constitutions, with the first adopted in 1921, then changing in 1924 and 1961 before the Constitution of 1982 was implemented.
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.
