Turkey's president appoints commission to draft new constitution

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced the first steps towards constitutional reform. Efkan Ala, vice chairman of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), has backed the initiative, stating that there is a shared political desire in Turkey to establish a new constitution. Speaking at an AKP meeting in Ankara, Erdoğan announced that he had commissioned ten constitutional lawyers to draft a new constitution. He said that the aim was to leave the ‘disgrace of the military constitution’ behind, referring to the current 1982 constitution, which was drafted by the junta after the 1980 military coup. Erdoğan explained that his party had repeatedly shown the will to introduce a new, civil and liberal constitution over the past 23 years, but had always failed due to the opposition’s resistance. This time, the party wants to work with others in parliament to find a consensus, Erdoğan stressed, stating “We hope to find common ground with the other parliamentary groups”.
Read the full article here: Medya News