After returning to Turkey from Thursday's EU meeting in Brussels, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu will reportedly call on all other parties to lend support in getting rid of the Constitution prepared by perpetrators of the 1980 military coup. He is expected to visit with parties at the end of the week to build consensus for a new constitution.
Despite the amendments which have already been made to the Turkish Constitution, political parties unanimously agree that the current constitution, written in reaction to the 1980 military coup, needs to be amended to reflect democratic values.
In its election manifesto, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) promised to draft a new constitution that takes into consideration the concerns and ideas of all parties, stating that redrafting the constitution is a key priority of the new government. Last week, Davutoğlu reiterated his call for a new and liberal constitution that does not echo the influence of coup leaders. "Our biggest need [in Turkey] is a liberal constitution that is based on human dignity and the principle of separation of powers. God willing, we will achieve this goal and prepare a constitution in line with Turkey's changing circumstances," Davutoğlu said. In 2011, a parliamentary commission was set up to draft the country's first civilian constitution but the commission was dissolved in 2013 after years of bilateral efforts proved futile. Even though the commission failed to draft a new constitution, the four parties had reached an agreement on 60 articles. Therefore, Davutoğlu is expected to ask the other political parties to change at least 60 articles of the constitution; even if they do not support the other suggestions set forth by the AK Party.
In the Nov. 1 election, the AK Party secured 317 of the 550 seats in Parliament. According to current regulations, holding 367 seats is a requirement for enacting a constitutional change in parliament without a referendum and taking a constitutional change to a referendum requires 330 seats in Parliament.
