TÜSİAD welcomes steps taken for EU

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

The Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) board praises the ‘democratization package as important and hopeful.’ AA photo

The reopening of a discussion on democratization in Turkey is a positive step, particularly turning towards the European Union topic is important and hopeful, a leading business organization has said. 

“We expect the Parliament to benefit from the atmosphere to re-approach the EU and to finalize the works on the road to a new Constitution successfully. We hope to enter into the 2015 general elections with a new Constitution that suits very well with the 21st century,” the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) board said in a written statement today.

TÜSİAD said work on a new democratic Constitution need to be accelerated, “It is especially positive for the democratic climate in Turkey to start to discuss a new democracy package after many years. The forthcoming discussions on the positive sides and the shortcomings of the package will definitely strengthen the social consensus and create a fertile ground for the works on new Constitution,” it said.

“It will be a really [long-awaited] step for the maintenance of the plural parliamentary regime to change the 10 percent threshold on elections, the biggest obstacle in front of the voter’s will being represented in the Parliament, and to be able to make the general elections in 2015 upon a brand new election system,” the board said. 

New steps are expected now on the road to further developing the democracy package. “Such steps, however, must be in line with the works on a brand new Constitution. In this vein, all democratization moves, mainly the regulations aiming at increasing the ‘freedom of religion and conscience,’ ‘freedom of speech and association,’ ‘right to free trial,’ and ‘non-violence environment,’ must be designed by putting the constitutional works at the center,” the board members said, adding that they found the will to back the democratization move, reforms and the European Union membership positive and promising.