Civil society agrees more than ever on basic principles of constitution

“Civil society has been maturing,” said Ayhan Bilgen from the Democratic Constitution Movement (DAH). “We understand each other more. This is a positive development for civil society.”

Civil society groups have been ramping up efforts to push for a new constitution following last year’s constitutional reform package, which was put to a public referendum on Sept. 12, ironically the anniversary of the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup. Fifty-eight percent of voters said “yes,” while 42 percent said “no” to the reforms, which included changes to 26 articles of the Constitution relating to individual rights and freedoms and the structure of the high judiciary.

The new constitution -- promised by the political leadership that retained power by garnering almost 50 percent of the vote in the June 12 general elections -- is expected to rid society of the remnants of the 1980 military era, although several amendments have been made to the 1982 Constitution.

The Sept. 12, 1980 coup d’état was the third coup in Turkey’s history and came after a period of ideological armed conflict on Turkey’s streets during the second half of the 1970s. An estimated 5,000 people were killed during the political violence. Some 600,000 were reportedly detained, while hundreds of thousands were tortured or went missing during the military coup administration.

Civil society’s voice was silenced after such a painful period, but observers say that the period of democratic transformation has led to strengthening of civil society and that officials would be wise to take advantage of civil society groups’ knowledge and expertise because they are the ones who work in the field.

Observers say it helps that various civil society groups have approached a consensus on some basic principles, despite their differing ideological inclinations.

“We observe consensus in society on three main issues,” said Bekir Berat Özipek, an academic and a member of the Association for Liberal Thinking. One of those issues is that the state should be neutral, meaning that it should not favor one ideology over another. “More specifically, the Constitution should not support ideas such as Kemalism and should not contain unchangeable articles. Only a narrow base resists that principle in Turkey,” he said. The unchangeable articles of the Constitution refer to the form of the state as the Turkish Republic and define the characteristic of the republic as a social and secular state governed by the rule of law, indicating loyalty to the nationalism of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey. The Constitution states in Article 3 that the Turkish state, with its territory and nation, is an indivisible entity; its language is Turkish; its flag, the form of which is prescribed by the relevant law, is composed of a white crescent and star on a red background; it has a national anthem and its capital is Ankara.

Constitutional law experts say that touching the unchangeable articles will be inevitable when the Constitution is changed because every constitutional amendment goes against that Constitution and every legal amendment is against that law; therefore, there will be a need to remove the contradictory components.

Another point of agreement among the civil society organizations is that the new constitution should be free of references to ethnic background and that there is therefore a need for a new definition of citizenship.

“Other than the MHP [Nationalist Movement Party], there is no opposition to this principle,” Özipek said, continuing, “Third, the constitution should guarantee freedom of religion and conscience for all of society without favoring any sect or religion.”

In addition, the DAH’s Bilgen said several civil society working groups for years studied how to change the Constitution and that all those groups agree on these principles. “There should be no red lines as a precondition to start a discussion on constitution making,” he said.

A study at Turgut Özal University in Ankara looked at 12 studies done in recent years regarding what a new constitution should have. Among the organizations included are the DAH; the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV), which announced its constitutional report in April; the New Constitution Platform (YAP), which in May prepared the “Essential Report for Turkey’s New Constitution”; the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD), one of Turkey’s major business associations which brought intellectuals together to prepare a draft that would lead to discussions during and after the elections; and the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), which prepared its suggestions in 2000.

“All of those tend to approach each other, come close to each other on some issues. This is a great development,” said Sacit Adalı, dean of Turgut Özal University’s School of Law. He explained that those issues are related to the removal of the tutelage regime, broadening the arena for rights and freedoms, and a need to define citizenship in a way that includes everybody, not just a specific ethnic group. “Everybody would like to see himself or herself in the new constitution, regardless of ethnic, religious or cultural background,” Adalı said.

He added that this new Parliament is the most inclusive in Turkey’s recent history, so it should be able to make the constitution with the participation of the civil society, academics, unions and whoever has a say in the process.