Speaker Çiçek recalls charter vows

EDİRNE - Anatolia News Agency

Cemil Çiçek says a new constutition should be prepared within this year. AA photo

Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek said all political parties made a promise to the nation and undertook a commitment at the June 12, 2011, general elections to write a new constitution.

“This is our collective pledge as a political institution and this pledge should be met without any delay or postponement,” he said yesterday while speaking at the Constitution Platform formed by nongovernmental organizations at a session themed “Turkey is speaking” in the northwestern border province of Edirne.

The need for a new constitution was being mentioned for more than 30 years, Çiçek said. “The need for a new constitution is beyond a discourse; it is a political reality and it stands in front of us as a social fact,” he said. “In June elections, as political parties we promised and we undertook a commitment to our society that we would write a new constitution . This is a pledge, a debt we need to keep without further delay. We should do it, within this year.”