Charter Commission ‘burning fuel at red lights,’ parliamentary speaker laments

ANKARA

Cemil Çiçek said during the opening ceremony of a prison converted into a museum in Ankara, Sept. 26. AA photo

Turkish Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek has expressed his pessimism on ongoing charter negotiations, emphasizing that the Constitution Conciliation Commission was way behind its target pace despite having pursued its work during Parliament’s summer recess.

“The [commission] is pursuing its works. But we are burning fuel at red lights. The engine is running. There is some heat. But we aren’t covering enough ground,” Cemil Çiçek said during the opening ceremony of a prison converted into a museum in Ankara on Sept. 26.

“The point where we are is not satisfying. We are way behind the goals set at the [Constitution Conciliation] Commission,” Çiçek said, adding that the time was now running out.

“It seems to me that most of the sun has already set,” he said.

Many irreconcilable differences remain between the four parties taking part in the commission, as over a 110 articles have yet to be discussed.