On 1 February 2021 President Erdoğan of Turkey announced that his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK) may start drafting a new constitution, along with his party’s ally, the People’s Alliance Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). This comes less than four years after the Turkish referendum in 2017 which overhauled the previous constitution and granted Erdoğan greater power.
New reform
“It’s time to discuss drafting a new constitution”, President Erdoğan said in a statement at Ankara’s presidential complex. “Our reform package will be revealed soon in full detail”, he added, talking of reform to the judiciary and the economy. The new constitution would be a “civilian constitution”, drafted with full transparency and presented for public discretion. Erdoğan recalled how Turkey’s last two constitutions, enacted in 1961 and 1982, were drafted after military coups and contained “indelible” traces of the “military tutelage.”
“This work must be conducted in front of the people and through the participation of all of their representatives in a transparent manner, and the text that emerges must be presented to the people for their approval,” he said.
His ruling AK party would work with his nationalist allies in the MHP to agree on a new plan, saying: “If we reach a common understanding … with our partners, we could take action for a new constitution in the period ahead.”
The last time reform was made was in 2017, when the Turkish people voted in favour of constitutional changes, that led to a switch from a parliamentary democracy system to an executive presidential system. This concentrated most of the powers in the hands of the president, despite strong backlash from critics and opposition parties. The 18-article bill that Turks voted on via referendum was brought forward by the AK Party and the MHP, and Erdoğan was elected under this new system in 2018. Opposition parties criticized the move as a “one man regime”, but the AK Party and the MHP have defended it, saying it created a “streamlined state apparatus.”
Erdoğan’s announcement follows from MHP leader Devlet Bahceli’s comments a few weeks ago, where he suggested constitutional change to ban the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) for separatism. The HDP condemned this as an attempt to silence six million votes, the amount of popular votes they received in the 2015 general election. Both Erdoğan and Bahceli are opposed to the HDP and have accused them in the past of having links to militants from the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). The HDP denies this.
“Work on a constitution is not something that can be done under the shadow of groups linked to the terrorist organisation (PKK) with people whose mental and emotional ties to their country are broken,” Erdoğan said.
The PKK has fought a four-decades long insurgency for autonomy for Kurdish peoples, mainly fighting in the southeast of Turkey.
Human rights concerns
Rights groups have frequently criticised Erdoğan’s increasingly authoritarianism governance, particularly since the failed 2016 coup attempt. A new constitution in collaboration with his nationalist allies presents concerns for human rights, with the possibility that Erdoğan may use constitutional reform to further cement his power and crack down on his opponents.
Erdoğan mentioned judicial reform, but did not elaborate further. Turkey has been criticised for giving impunity to government officials and affiliates in prisons, police departments, and in the legal field, shielding them from facing justice for accusations of corruption and abuse against detainees. In December 2020, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet sent a letter to Turkish Minister of External Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on the steps Turkey should take to improve its human rights record. Within this, he suggested a Judicial Reform Strategy to strengthen the independence and impartiality of the judiciary and guarantee separation of powers. This reform is necessary to reduce interference by the executive branch in judicial affairs which allows the problem of impunity to continue without much consequence, violating international human rights laws by protecting state officials and affiliates from any charges brought against them.
Much like with the 2017 reforms, a new constitution could afford greater power to the president and his ruling party, marginalising the opposition and harming democratic processes. Turkey was recently under fire from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for ignoring their rulings to release Selahattin Demirtaş, former HDP co-chair. Mr. Demirtaş has been arbitrarily detained since November 2016 on unsubstantiated terrorism charges. His detention, largely based on political motives, goes against “the very core of the concept of a democratic society” and was in breach of Articles 5, 10, 18 and Article 3 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)”, according to the ECtHR. Mr. Demirtaş’ case is not a stand alone instance but part of a pattern of silencing opposition or government critics. According to Amnesty International, more than 10,000 people have been detained in Turkey, including members of opposition parties, since the attempted coup in 2016. Many cases have already been heard by the ECtHR against Turkey for violating their Council of Europe membership obligations and breaching the principles of the ECHR.
The plans for reform also bring up concerns for minority groups in Turkey, particularly religious and ethnic minorities, who already faced persecution and members of the LGBTQ community. Turkey continues to only accept three non-Muslim groups as minorities – Armenians, Rum Orthodox Christians (Greeks) and Jews – but exclues groups such as the Kurds, Roma community, and Assyrians. Such groups see limits to their political, legal and cultural rights, and if this is embedded in a new constitution, these groups face more risk to their safety and access to fundamental basic human rights.
Last week, four students were arrested for artwork that reportedly depicted LGBTQ rainbow symbols alongside the most sacred Islamic site, the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Students at Bogazici University in Istanbul have been protesting against the appointment of Melih Bulu as rector by Erdoğan, which they said was undemocratic. The LGBTQ support is part of the protests as a response to the university’s decision to block an application to set up an LGBTQ club. Despite homosexuality being legal in Turkey, opposition towards LGBTQ rights has grown in recent years, with Erdoğan espousing an anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. The Istanbul Pride march was banned from 2015-2019, and was likely to be banned this year, if it was not already prevented from going ahead due to COVID-19.
On Monday after 159 arrests were made by police at the protests, Erdoğan praised his AK Party’s youth wing for
“not being the LGBT youth.”
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu took to Twitter to condemn the protestors, tweeting “4 LGBT deviants who committed the disrespect to the Kaaba-i Muazzama were detained at Bogazici University.” Ibrahim Kalin, chief adviser to the president also commented that “neither freedom of expression nor the right to protest” could defend the artwork, and the act would receive “the punishment it deserves before the law”. Soylu’s tweet was given an official warning by Twitter, saying it violated rules about harmful conduct but it remains on the site as it might be in the public interest for it to remain visible. The plans for a new constitution could be taken as an opportunity for a reversal of LGBTQ rights, such as bans on homosexuality or LGBTQ support in public places.
Any changes to the Turkish constitution should be done through democratic processes and with human rights as a key priority. The President and his allies should take on board the recommendations from the UN High Commissioner for improving their human rights record and implement structural change that sees an end to the problem of impunity, restricted freedom of speech, and marginalisation of minorities.