“Gerçeker got me wrong. I received detailed information from [Justice Minister] Sadullah Ergin about the reform package, and we, as the Venice Commission, support the package,” Markert told Today's Zaman.
Markert was referring to his misunderstood remarks about the package, which appeared in the Cumhuriyet daily on Wednesday. In the headline story, Gerçeker quoted the secretary-general as saying that the Turkish government did not send the Venice Commission a copy of the reform package or ask their opinion on the planned amendments.
 Supreme Court of Appeals President Hasan Gerçeker quoted the secretary-general as saying that the Turkish government did not send the Venice Commission a copy of the reform package or ask their opinion on the planned amendments in the headline story of Cumhuriyet daily. |
“I do not think the things they [the government] are trying to do here are fully understood in Europe. Because Markert told us differently from what is known. He said the Venice Commission did not see the constitutional amendment package as the Turkish government did not send a copy of it. We also learned from him that the government did not ask the opinion of the commission on the reform package. Markert said the justice minister [Sadullah Ergin] talked to him about the constitutional amendments and that the package would change anti-democratic articles of the Sept. 12 [1980] Constitution. What we understand is that the reform package is being portrayed in a different manner abroad,” the appeals court president stated. In response, Markert said he did not tell Gerçeker nor imply that he did not have adequate information on the constitutional amendment package. “I just said the Turkish government did not seek an official opinion from the Venice Commission when preparing the package. … We have adequate information about the planned amendments to the Constitution and fully support them,” he added. The secretary-general also said he had a “heated debate” with Gerçeker when discussing the details of the reform package. “He was hostile to the package. When I conveyed my opinion of the package to him, he harshly criticized the constitutional changes. I think there is a big misunderstanding. I never told Gerçeker that the commission was not informed about the content of the package,” he stated.
