CONSTITUTION MIGHT BE DEMILITARIZED

Lragir, Armenia
Aug 28 2007

After the victory of the Justice and Development Party in the
parliamentary election and the election of Abdullah Gyul as president a
constitutional reform is possible, thinks the director of the Institute
of Oriental Studies, expert on Turkey Ruben Safrastyan, who held a news
conference on August 28. He said the influence of the military command
on the political life of Turkey might be gradually diminishing. In
this country, the military are the guardians of the political order,
the secular state. Ruben Safrastyan thinks this state of things will
change gradually, and the influence of the military on the political
processes in Turkey will gradually weaken.

The expert on Turkey says already appeals are made that the Justice
and Development Party will change the constitution. "It became clear
from the statements by the leadership of the party. In fact, they are
saying that Turkey’s constitution is a militarized constitution which
was adopted after the military coup in 1980," Ruben Safrastyan says.

According to him, the leadership of the Justice and Development
party is said to have instructed its members to prepare proposals on
amendments to the constitution, which will lead to "demilitarization
of the constitution" of Turkey.