A special commission, which will prepare a draft of the new Constitution, has been formed in Turkey. It includes representatives of both the ruling Justice and Development Party and the opposition. Speaking to members of the committee, the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Ismail Kahraman, said that the country has been in need of a new democratic constitution for a long time.
The Deputy Chairman of the Republican People's Party of Turkey, President of the Eurasian Center for Strategic Studies, Farouk Logoglu, stressed in an interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza that the intentions of the ruling party are not so unequivocal as claimed by its members.
"The Justice and Development Party seeks not only to eliminate 'the inconsistency of the current Constitution with democratic norms, but to change the laws and turn the country into a presidential republic. The ruling party does not even hide it and declares that the current form of government should be changed to a presidential one," he said.
Logoglu predicts that the talks between representatives of different parties in the framework of the Commission will not lead to any significant results.
At the same time, the deputy chairman of the Republican People's Party does not deny that the country needs a more democratic Constitution. "I think that the new Constitution should improve issues on the rule of law, ensuring the independence of the judiciary, freedom of speech and expression, as well as freedom of the media, the Kurdish issue should also be reflected," he said.
"I think that if all the parties came to a consensus, it would be possible to prepare a new constitution within a year, but the reality is that there is no hope that the constitution would be adopted, as each party has its own expectations and conditions," the President of the Eurasian Center for Strategic Studies noted.
"First and foremost, it is necessary to deal with the political situation in the country. That's the most important thing for Turkey today," Faruk Logoglu concluded.
Turkish political analyst Hussein Altynalan recalled that the current Constitution was adopted during the time of the junta, which came to power in a coup. "Besides, there are many drawbacks to the current Constitution, because it has required frequent changes, which eventually served as a barrier to the development of Turkey," he said.
The expert explained that, apart from the issue of the presidential system of government, a new constitution is expected to make changes in the education system. "The rights of national minorities will be expanded to receive education in their own language" Altynalan said.
In addition, he said that Turkey aspires to get into the European Union, so the laws of the country must meet the relevant criteria.
"It's hard to say how long the negotiations around the new Constitution will last, because there are significant differences between all the parties in this regard," the Turkish political scientist summed up.
