ACADEMICIANS DEBATE NEW CONSTITUTION
New Anatolian, Turkey
14 September 2007
As Turkey gets ready for a new Civilian Constitution which will
replace the one adopted following 1980 military coup, academicians
and nongovernmental organizations call for more transparent and
participatory process.
Ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party is expected to present
the new Constitution which is prepared by a commission chaired by
Professor Ergun Ozbudun by the end of this year.
The commission made up of academicians has completed the draft and
made their presentation to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in
June. Deputy Chairman of AK Party, Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat currently
holds the draft.
Simpler and shorter than the existing one, the new constitution will
broaden personal freedoms, while clipping the powers of the president
and the army, and will help remove some obstacles on the country’s
path towards EU membership.
New Constitution draft lifts temporary Article 15 of the existing
1980 Constitution that is banning the trial of those who headed the
1980 military coup and strengthen the right to live. "This is a new
constitution but it should not be designed as a reaction to the past
but according to the secular, democratic principles and achievements
of the Republic," said Istanbul University Rector Mesut Parlak.
Noting that he could not digest the Constitution draft, Parlak stated
that Constitution should be absolutely neutral.
"All values belonging to Turkish nation should be protected in the
Constitution. This country has no issues with headscarf but it has
problems with turban.
This country has no problem with religious people but it has with
fundamentalists," added Parlak.
Meanwhile, seven professional organizations and labor unions as well
as ten academicians founded have launched a campaign in an effort
to call government for carrying out this process more transparent
and participatory.
"A new constitution for free and democratic Turkey," campaign aims
at contributing the making of the new Civilian Constitution which
should represent all parts of the people living in the country.
The campaign argues that government does not have the right to make
a Constitution on its own and should seek more contribution and views.
In an press briefing held earlier this week, Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat
told reporters that talks on the document within the party would be
"concluded next week".
"After the second round, a draft will be ready to introduce to our
people, universities, political parties, media, and nongovernmental
organisations for further discussions and contributions," he said. "A
special website will be a platform for interactive discussions on
the new constitution."
He expected the public debate on the new charter to last for more than
three months, after which all views and proposals will be considered
before the final version is prepared.
Other parties can submit their own proposals, said Firat.
"But whichever draft is approved by parliament is the one we will
take to a referendum to ask the people to approve," he said, denying
reports that the AKP is planning to include clauses in the constitution
to lift the ban on wearing the Muslim headscarf in universities.
Stressing the importance of freedom of expression, Brussels has
repeatedly urged Turkey to change or annul the controversial Article
301 in its penal code, which has led to a number of trials against
prominent intellectuals, accused of "insulting Turkishness".
Among those who have faced prosecution are Orhan Pamuk, winner of
the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature, and Hrant Dink, a prominent
Turkish-Armenian journalist, who was killed earlier this year.
The constitution the AK Party plans to propose will provide that
international treaties and conventions Turkey has signed will have
supremacy over national legislation. This will allow local courts
to ask the Constitutional Court to annul national legislation
contradicting such international agreements, the daily explained.
The draft also envisions changes that will affect the Constitutional
Court itself. The number of its members will grow from 11 to 17, of
which nine will be appointed by parliament and eight by the president,
who currently appoints all judges on the court.
The constitutional draft would also grant the president immunity,
but would take away from him "the leadership of the National Security
Council," according to a senior AK Party official.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary immunity currently enjoyed by Turkish
lawmakers will be curbed.
The army is also likely to see some of its powers cut, in line with
EU standards. According to foreign wire services, the head of the
armed forces would no longer report to the prime minister directly,
but to the defense minister.