Turkey to present new constitution text next year: Erdoğan

ANKARA

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) wants to draw up a text of a new constitution in a transparent manner and unveil it in front of the nation for discussion, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on March 24, noting that they aim to realize this phase by early 2022.

“The new constitution will be prepared as the product of an open and transparent process. We aim to reach this stage of work on the new constitution in the first period of next year,” Erdoğan said, speaking at the seventh grand ordinary congress of the AKP.

They have been carrying out work in the presidency, in the AKP headquarters, in the academy and in various non-governmental organizations to draft a new charter, he said.

“When these reach a certain maturity at the level of principles, then concrete texts, they will be brought together and opened to discussion in the eyes of our nation,” Erdoğan emphasized.

A new civilian constitution for Turkey is inevitable, in light of both national history and the evolving global context, he said, calling on everyone to contribute to the process.

“We want a constitution that our nation wants to be ruled by,” he stressed, adding that Turkey’s current constitution – largely the holdover from a 1980 coup – has lost its validity.

“Our proposal for a new and civilian constitution, except for some shallow objections that do not require consideration because it lacks an intellectual basis, has found positive repercussions in all segments” of the society, he noted.

Underlining that the new constitution should be a constitution of the people, not “putschists or a tutelage regime,” Erdoğan said, “The new constitution’s text, which will emerge with the widest possible consensus, will be submitted for the nation’s approval.”

The AKP will carry Turkey toward its 2023 targets and its vision for 2053 through its recently announced judicial and economic reforms, as well as steps on human rights, the president asserted.

Erdoğan calls on foreigners for investment in Turkey

He also called on the international investors to rely on the “power and potential” of Turkey.

Erdoğan stressed that the recent market fluctuations do not reflect Turkey’s economy and urged citizens to transfer their cushion of capital foreign currency and gold into the financial instruments.

“The fluctuations in the markets in the past few days do not reflect the Turkish economy’s fundamentals, real dynamics and its potential,” he said.

“I make a call from here to my citizens who keep foreign currency and gold in their homes just to feel safe. I ask these citizens to invest their foreign currency and gold in their homes, which are our national wealth, in various financial instruments and bring them into the economy and production,” he stated.

Financial institutions, especially participation finance companies, offer their customers alternatives for these gold and foreign currencies that will provide them with a satisfactory earning, the president said.

He called on Turkish businesspeople to bring their foreign resources to the country by taking advantage of the law on repatriation of capital that will continue until June 30.

Turkey wants its region to become an ‘island of peace’

Turkey wants to resolve conflicts and make more friends while turning its region into an “island of peace,” Erdoğan stated.

“We are determined to increase the number of our friends and resolve hostilities in the region, turning it into an island of peace,” he said.

Turkey will carry out relations with the United States, Russia, the EU and the Arab world in line with the country’s interests and the nation’s expectations.

Located at the crossroads of Africa, Asia and Europe, Turkey does not have the luxury of turning its back on either the East or West, Erdoğan said, adding that it will set its foreign policy while protecting its own national and international rights.

AKP’s decision-making board enlarges

The AKP is making a major restructuring in the party administration, and a cabinet change is anticipated soon, according to a statement by the party’s deputy chair, Mahir Ünal, on March 23.

The AKP’s Central Decision Making and Administrative Board (MKYK) has been enlarged from 50 members to 75 at the congress. The former prime minister and parliament speaker, Binali Yıldırım, took place in the MKYK.

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) and the Future Party were not invited to the convention.