The booklet starts with an introduction by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and is divided into four sections: Introduction, Individual Rights and Freedoms, the Judiciary and Working Life and Economy.
The provision abolishing Article 15 of the Constitution, which provides immunity from prosecution to the generals responsible for the Sept. 12, 1980 coup, is also included in the introduction of the booklet. A picture of the leader of the infamous coup, Gen. Kenan Evren, is included in the section with a caption that reads “The military seized control of the country.” The constitutional amendments are explained in detail in the booklet, and criticism put forth by the opposition against the package is addressed in a series of questions and answers.
A referendum will be held on Sept. 12 where the nation will vote on a number of constitutional amendments approved by Parliament in May. Among other things, the reform package includes changes to the structure of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK).
In the introduction, Erdoğan explains why the government took the initiative to amend the Constitution and criticized the current Constitution drafted in 1982 by coup leaders. “Now it is the nation’s turn to speak. Authority is now on the shoulders of those who actually hold it. Our nation will have the last word. On the anniversary of the Sept. 12 coup, another Sept. 12 thirty years later, I believe that my nation will make the most comprehensive and democratic changes to the 1982 Constitution,” the prime minister said.
The 99-page-long booklet also lists 40 reasons for the public to vote in favor of the changes. Some of these reasons stated are: making it possible for the Sept. 12 coup leaders and their aides to be held accountable, opening Supreme Military Council [YAŞ] and HSYK decisions to judicial review, putting an end to the trial of civilians in military courts, giving civil servants the right to collective bargaining and a transition to the rule of law, rather than military guardianship.
