The modern Republic of Turkey established in 1923 is the work of the first National Assembly sworn in on April 23, 1920 and included all sectors of society.With its pluralist structure including religionists, Kurds and liberals, the first assembly served as a model in the first quarter of the 19th century in which fascist regimes gained strength. However, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who is regarded as the founder of the Republic, was determined to monopolize power. To this end, he removed all elements from the assembly he considered a threat to himself. The main problem for Mustafa Kemal, who easily removed dissenters from the assembly, was the great masses of people. He needed to guarantee the sudden and unexpected "Turkish method," which omitted Kurds, Alevis, religionists, liberals and leftists, in the representative assembly. In order to do this in the first place, he resorted to the structural revisions for the libertarian Constitution of 1921, which was issued by the first pluralist assembly.First of all, he added the word "Turkish" in front of the word of "nation" in the Constitution.Then he prepared the infrastructure of intermediary institutions in order to prevent the direct sovereignty of the people.So far, Mustafa Kemal's idea of confining the political representatives of large masses to the official ideology continued in a growing way. Following the 1960's military coup, the generals issued a Constitution which resulted in the construction of a number of institutions that disfranchised the people's right to self-determination. Similarly, the Constitution of 1982, which also came after a military coup in 1980, turned the Parliament almost into a nonfunctional institution.As a result of this system of tutelage, the Turkish public that hanged the cliché of "sovereignty belongs unconditionally to the nation" on the walls of the assembly never possessed this sovereignty in the 80-year history of the Republic. All the same, every year Turkey marks National Sovereignty Day on April 23.The AK Party that came to power under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2002 has been trying to clear up the issue of problematic representation. It is trying to free the legislative power of the Parliament, which is the only legal representative of the people, from the institutions that are dominated by appointed bureaucrats. For example, although most Turkish women wear the hijab or headscarf, it has only recently been possible to elect covered deputies to represent them. With the elimination of electoral and organizational bans with the AK Party's rule, the political representatives of Kurdish society have been given a chance to enter the Parliament. The Parliament that was established after the last general elections is the only Parliament in the history of the Republic in which 95 percent of the public is represented.However, supporters of the bureaucratic oligarchy who act as if in a caste system and elect themselves stand against this transformation.Moreover, Turkey's Parliament is forbidden from even "offering" the amendment of some constitutional articles.What is worse is that pro-tutelage political figures present Turkey's struggle for democracy in past years as something threatening to the European and American communities. In institutionalized Western democracies, it is considered a problem when the parliament or congress, which is the only legal representative of the people, is not included in all fields. But the AK Party's attempts in this direction, even if reinforced by parliamentary power, are labeled as "aspirations for dictatorship."Although the Grand National Assembly's right to appoint some members for higher judicial bodies is a condition for democracy in Europe and the U.S., it is regarded as a danger for Turkey. What is this other than hypocrisy?The Turkish public is now more determined to embrace its right of sovereignty and democracy. It will not once again lose the right of self-determination that was acquired 94 years ago and taken back by tutelage.