The head of the Turkish Parliament says the assembly will likely discuss a new constitution next year and pledges more order after a recent session mired with a major brawl between lawmakers.
Numan Kurtulmuş, the speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM), spoke about a wide range of issues regarding the agenda of Parliament, a brawl in an extraordinary session of Parliament earlier this month and whether this session would resume.
Parliament is in summer recess after a busy term in which lawmakers approved several landmark laws, including, most recently, an animal protection bill. But it extraordinarily convened upon calls by the opposition on the status of a jailed lawmaker for a controversial session. Scuffles erupted when an opposition deputy accused the ruling party lawmakers of being “terrorists.” Kurtulmuş said the disrupted session cannot be resumed as he pointed out that the early session was already in vain as Parliament cannot change court rulings on the legal status of lawmakers.
Kurtulmuş told the broadcaster Habertürk on Wednesday night that it was unacceptable for a lawmaker to hurl such insults at other members of Parliament but it was also unacceptable to see a brawl unfolding at the assembly. “This is not appropriate for Parliament, particularly as it came one day after a united stance of the assembly,” he said, referring to the historic speech of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Aug. 16 that brought together the opposition and ruling party in support of the Palestinian cause.
“Before the next legislative period, we will come together with representatives of the parties and will find a common platform so as not to repeat such scenes,” Kurtulmuş said. He also said he would regularly meet representatives of parties’ parliamentary groups to ensure the prevalence of order in Parliament.
“Everyone has responsibility on this matter. First of all, we should end this dirty rhetoric,” he said, referring to the “terrorist” remarks by Turkish Workers’ Party (TİP) deputy Ahmet Şık.
The parliament speaker also extensively addressed the efforts for a new constitution. Kurtulmuş has overseen talks between political parties on the matter and has visited representatives of all parties at Parliament since January to discuss a new constitution proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Kurtulmuş said all parties had campaigned in the past for an entirely new constitution or major amendments. “In our first round of talks (with parties), we saw that all parties except the Democrat Party were open-minded. We hope the second round of talks will have frank discussions. Parliament will lead the debate on a new constitution and will not be confined to parties but all segments of the society,” he said.
Kurtulmuş noted that he asked representatives of the AK Party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the Good Party (IP) and the Felicity Party (SP) if they favored amendments to the first four articles of the Constitution during an informal meeting and all responded negatively.
“The majority of Parliament does not want it. I personally believe debating the four articles is a waste of time,” he said. The articles cover the state’s identity and official language and assert its form of government, define the flag, national anthem and capital, and have been a staple of the Constitution since 1921.
He said they would set a timetable for discussions on a new constitution, starting from October 2024 (when the summer recess ended), and hoped that a draft new constitution would likely be presented before Parliament for final discussions within a year.
