Turkey's first Constitution Conciliation Commission meeting on Thursday

The first meeting of the Constitution Conciliation Commission, the members of which were recently determined by the parties in Parliament, is set for Thursday. Prior to the meeting, members of the Constitution Conciliation Commission determined their parties' political strategy for the talks. The strategy for all four major political parties, which gained experience on the Constitution Conciliation Commission during the 24th legislative session, is to avoid being the first to leave the table. According to sources, the aim of the first meeting is to set the roadmap for the new constitution talks.

The parties had previously agreed on 60 articles for a new constitution. But now the topic of a presidential system will most likely be the main topic of disagreement during the talks. Furthermore, due to the precedent set during the previous meetings, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) administration has set a six-month time limit for the meetings to avoid deadlock. However, previous statements from opposition parties indicate that they will not accept any time limit for the process. The AK Party administration had further indicated recently that opposition parties should not have redlines for the talks and that they should leave their biases out of the meetings.

All political parties in Parliament announced their deputies on the Constitution Conciliation Commission. Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman is the chairman, former Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek, Parliament Justice Commission Chairman Ahmet İyimaya and AK Party General Secretary Abdulhamit Gül represent the AK Party. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is represented by Deputy Chairman Bülent Tezcan, Muğla Deputy Ömer Sulha Aldan and Balıkesir Deputy Namık Havutça. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) is represented by Deputies Oktay Öztürk Mehmet Parsak and Kadir Koçdemir, while the People's Democratic Party (HDP) is represented by Deputies Mithat Sancar, Garo Paylan and Meral Danış Beştaş.