Reforms ready for immediate launch: Justice Minister

ANKARA

Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin says relevant institutions are informed about the democratization package’s stipulations. AA Photo

Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin has announced that the drafts of bills necessary for the legal changes proposed in the recently announced democratization package are ready, while hinting that they would take the necessary steps to swiftly put them into force.

 “It is being prepared promptly at the moment; but the draft bills of those that require law are readily in our hands. We are doing the final corrections on these,” Ergin said on Oct. 2, during the opening ceremony of the “Panel on Democratization Package and the Consolidation of Democracy in Turkey” at the Strategic Thinking Institute.

Ergin also informed that institutions that were declared as exceptions by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the package’s stipulations on the lifting of the headscarf ban in public services, would decide on their own about what to do, with regard to whether to allow it or not.

“On a great scale, related institutions will make their own regulations under their roof, there is such an understanding. The authorized institutions of the military, police and judiciary will evaluate that. We will see the developments together,” Ergin said.

Ergin further indicated that their aim was not to please anyone in particular, clearly referring to arguments that the package was launched as part of the peace process, as he noted that the announcement of their 2023 targets, their reference point for the package, predated the peace process.

‘Not for peace process’

“The reference of this package is the party program the AKP put forward during its establishment. The reference of this package is the government program that was put forward when our government was established. The reference of this package is the 2023 vision goals made up of 63 articles that were shared with the public in the last AKP congress held a year ago,” Ergin said.

Ergin also reiterated that after the package comes into effect, they would have fulfilled 18 of the party’s 63 “2023 Targets,” which the party set for itself last year. The “2023 Targets” refers to a deadline set by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for many financial, political and social targets to mark the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey.