In an interview with the Yeni Şafak daily, Hisarcıklıoğlu responded to the growing civil society criticism directed against him for remaining silent about the widely lauded reform package which has garnered overwhelming support from the business world. “A Powerful economy is only possible through improving the quality of democracy. That is why we find every step that would expand and support our democracy, rights and freedoms. …The present Constitution is not sufficient for a country like Turkey, which is rapidly developing in political and economic fields. It is restraining the room for politics and beats the national will. I see this referendum as an important step. I think it will be a fresh start for creating a brand-new Constitution that would take Turkey to its targets. God willing, a new constitutional process will take place after the referendum,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper on Monday. Hisarcıklıoğlu, however, also told the paper that he finds expressing an institutional stand over the matter wrong since there was a diversity of opinion at TOBB.
Hisarcıklıoğlu’s TOBB came under the spotlight following his initial silence over the proposed package. While many members spoke up and criticized him for not lending open support to the changes that are, seemingly, of benefit to the country’s businessmen, some others attacked the TOBB’s structure, arguing that it controlled a huge budget of some $3 billion but did not do its members a service and that it had failed to represent them in relation to significant national matters like the Sept. 12 referendum.
