Turkey's president pushes for new constitution

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated his ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) proposal for a new constitution, deeming it a "national duty." "Constitutions made without seeking compromise are crippled beyond birth, they are closer to producing a crisis," Erdoğan stated during an event in Istanbul on May 27. The president criticized the current charter, implemented following the 1980 military coup, for failing to achieve a national consensus. He argued that such texts "poison the relationship between the state and the citizen." [ . . . ] Since early May, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş has engaged in discussions with representatives of opposition parties about the new constitutional proposal. However, the CHP stresses the importance of "adhering to the existing constitution," citing concerns over the non-implementation of Constitutional Court decisions, particularly regarding ex-MP Can Atalay, whose parliamentary status was revoked despite top rulings. Other parties, including the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and the İYİ (Good) Party, have called for prioritizing economic challenges over constitutional deliberations.
Read the full article here: Hurriyet Daily News