It is very clear that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the chief executives of the AK Party have calculated the finest details in this tactical war. The game, which will benefit the AK Party in all cases, is based on a simple formula. No one except pro-coup politicians or groups can oppose the proposed amendments in the package. In short, the AK Party’s proposals are completely legitimate from the vantage point of democracy and the rule of law. Therefore, any objection to them implies objection to democracy and the rule of law. In this tactical war, the AK Party derives its strength from its rightfulness.On the other hand, if the AK Party successfully passes these reforms, this will increase the AK Party’s honor. This honor will be crowned with the power to draft a constitution. With this, the AK Party will recover the power it had lost to the Constitutional Court during the closure case against it. The damage done to this strength because of the democratic initiative intended to settle the Kurdish issue will be compensated with the power to draft a constitution.
If it can amend the Constitution, the AK Party will be empowered as a party that has the power to draft a constitution. If it cannot amend it, those who block it, particularly including the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Republican People’s Party (CHP), will lose their public image and credibility. The damage done to the reputation of the top judicial oligarchy just at the beginning is indicative of the fate of those who oppose the package.
The Constitution of the subversive
The armed tutelary system in Turkey is run according to the rules of the existing Constitution. These rules are particularly important for those who seek to overthrow the government or exert authority and control civilian democratic governments. When a member of the military commits an offense, the military quickly steps in to take the offender and try him or her at military courts. The military jurisdiction makes it possible for the military to escape judicial review and conduct coup preparations in an easier manner.
Last year, a legal amendment removed this armor of immunity by allowing military personnel to be tried in civilian courts. Although the Constitutional Court overturned this amendment, civilian courts continue to try generals thanks to the removal of this armor. An attempt to overthrow the government has come to be regarded as an offense thanks to this amendment. A major change in the 26-item reform package is to amend Article 145 of the Constitution to insert into it the expansion of the jurisdiction of civilian courts to include military personnel. To oppose this reform means to advocate military coups. The Constitutional Court had already canceled the abovementioned legal amendment by citing this article of the Constitution. If this article of the Constitution is amended, this will eliminate any excuse for canceling said legal amendment.
The Constitution belongs to the subversive generals. Opposition to the reforms will make the opponents unpleasant advocates of military coups. Moreover, the order that will be established with these reforms is sufficient to solve today’s problems. It will restore the rule of law. The top judicial oligarchy, which currently opposes the government’s constitutional reforms, has failed to oppose a scandal that would devastate the legal system. The commander of the 3rd Army, who is a suspect in a terror case, refused to go to court and did not testify, which was a major legal scandal. The chief of General Staff implied that they back this terror suspect and urged the judicial bureaucracy to take action, which was another scandal. The representatives of the top judiciary who oppose the amendment to Article 145 of the Constitution failed to oppose these legal scandals, which was another big scandal.
Party competition
The MHP is not categorically against the constitutional reforms. It just argues that these reforms must be made after the elections. When you ask, “Why?” they cannot give a reasonable answer. There are also propositions that the CHP would most likely not oppose. In fact, there is only one reason for their opposition: The CHP and the MHP do not want to give the AK Party the honor of, and power to, amend the Constitution. The MHP’s suggestion that “the Constitution should be changed after the election” and the CHP’s objection that “the reforms were prepared by the AK Party” are not related to the principles of the Constitution. Rather, to argue that the Constitution should not be changed is to accept and protect the Constitution of 1982. It is for this reason that the objections are mainly raised concerning the procedures, not the principles.
The constitutional reform package aims to return the judiciary and the military back to their original domain, thereby democratizing the power struggle within the state outside the bureaucracy. The military and the judiciary represent the pole against democracy in the power struggle within the state. This is because the power within the state is shared by the democratically elected government and the military and the judiciary, which are generally termed the “state institutions.” The top judicial oligarchy takes the largest portion in this power sharing. This oligarchy does not run law but wields power. The chief public prosecutor opens or threatens to open the closure case against the ruling power in order to restrain it. The Constitutional Court issues its decision with the purpose of establishing or strengthening the tutelage over the executive and the legislature. What about law? As the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) damages the assurances provided to judges in its critical decisions, can we talk about an impartial judiciary and fair trials? In every controversy that has emerged in connection with the HYSK, this board is accused of interfering in the Ergenekon trial in favor of defendants. There is no judicial bureaucracy that protects the rule of law. Rather, there is a judicial oligarchy that does damage to the rule of law as it engages in a power struggle.
If this power formula that has discredited legal institutions within the state is abolished and if the judiciary operated in a completely independent and impartial manner and if the military withdraws from the political scene as it cannot find support from the judiciary we will solve our systemic problems and we will have no problems related to the Constitution.
The MHP and the CHP view the constitutional debates from the perspective of party competition. It is hard to persuade these parties, but it is easy to convince their voters because these constitutional amendments are needed by everyone. The subversive generals are planning to conduct violent attacks in order to pave the way for an eventual military takeover. They usurp the democratic rights of citizens. Not only are the fundamental rights and freedoms of AK Party voters threatened, those of the voters of the MHP and the CHP are also under imminent threat from this subversive system. Since the subversive generals mainly target the people who are closest to the CHP in order to create large-scale provocations, it is the CHP that is primarily threatened. The constitutional reforms contain guarantees that will eliminate these threats. With these reforms, it is possible to ward off the military and the judiciary from the power struggle within the state and introduce constitutional rules for this struggle.
The statement must change Article 145 of the Constitution so that it can effectively deal with the criminal organizations within the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). Other reforms in the package, too, are vitally needed to get rid of the political system debates and introduce the people’s sovereignty. The judiciary must be saved from the grip of the judicial oligarchy and be democratized. Objective criteria are needed so that the chief public prosecutor does not launch a closure case arbitrarily and the HSYK does not meddle with ongoing terror cases in favor of defendants. Who needs them? Everyone who wants to be safe. Everyone, including the voters of the CHP and the MHP.
The AK Party’s attempt to amend the Constitution is an essential need for Turkey. What about those who oppose the reforms? The polarization that is connected to the reform package is actually an indication of the power struggle within the state. What we see is a power struggle, not a constitutional debate.
Who will win? If the constitutional reforms are passed, the AK Party will win since this will be an endorsement of its power to amend the Constitution. If not, the AK Party will still win since all of the proposed reforms are fairly justified. The people will see this and act accordingly in the election. In this case, all groups that oppose the package should make their plans for how to suffer minimal damage from this process, which would mainly consist of supporting the package.
