Turkey’s constitutional journey is unique evidence of its complex political history. It reflects the nation’s struggle to balance traditional values to modernization, secularism to religious identity, and authoritarian tendencies to democratic aspirations. Knowing the religious history of the Ottoman Empire, people wonder how Turkey became a secular and modern state. In order to understand it better, the article will try to explore and explain the evolution of the Turkish Constitution from the Ottoman era to the present day. This piece also examines the Republic’s current constitutional and political structure. Let us start the journey from constitutional experiments in the late 19th century when the Ottoman Empire was in decay.
Ottoman Constitutional Experiments
The roots of Turkey’s constitutional history can be traced back to the late/decaying Ottoman period. The first Ottoman constitution, known as the Kanun-i Esasi, means Constitution or Fundamental Law, was promulgated in 1876 during what people call the First Constitutional Era. The document introduced concepts of civil liberties and a parliamentary system while maintaining the sultan’s authority. However, this experiment was temporary because Sultan Abdülhamid II suspended the constitution in 1878, reverting to absolute monarchy. The second attempt to bring about the constitution began in 1908 with the Young Turk Revolution, which restored the 1876 constitution and reestablished the Parliament.This period saw further changes and amendments to the constitution in order to limit the sultan’s powers. There was a strong urge to intensify the role of the elected government. But, due to the political instability and the outbreak of World War I, the urgent need for the constitution was hindered.
The 1921 Constitution and the Birth of the Republic
Following the end of World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish War of Independence under the leadership of Mustafa Kamal Atatürk led to the establishment of the Grand National Assembly in Ankara in 1920. This assembly adopted the Constitution of 1921, a brief document that served as a transitional constitution. It declared national sovereignty and established the principle that the Grand National Assembly was the nation’s sole representative.
The proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on October 29, 1923, marked a significant turning point in Turkish constitutional history. The Grand Assembly elected Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a revolutionary and secular leader, as the first president of the Republic of Turkey. Under his leadership, the young republic embarked on a path of modernization and secularization. Scholars consider it as the most democratic constitution-making process that Turkey ever had in history.
The 1924 Constitution
In 1924, the Grand National Assembly adopted a new constitution that formally established Turkey as a republic at the crossroads of Asia and Europe. This constitution was the first constitution of the Republic of Turkey. It retained most of the basic principles of the 1921 constitution, such as the principle of national security. Atatürk’s vision of establishing a modern and secular state can be seen in this constitution. It also established a unicameral parliament and granted extensive powers to the legislature. The President, elected by the Parliament, held significant executive authority. The 1924 Constitution was mainly based on the philosophy of six arrows of Kemalism, produced by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk: republicanism, nationalism, populism, statism, secularism, and reformism. These principles formed the ideological foundation of the new Turkish state and continued to influence constitutional developments in the following decades. People also say that this constitution was established for a single-party regime, which would prepare the country for a pluralistic democratic regime. However, slowly, it ended up creating an authoritarian rule.
Ataturk’s Six Principles symbolised as Six Arrows
The 1961 Constitution
Without understanding the background of the military coup and the country’s political scenario in the 1960s, It may become tough to connect the dots and understand the background of the military coup, followed by the framing of the new constitution. The multi-party system that started during the 1950s created political tensions, which further culminated in the military coup of 1960. The political elite’s abuse of political power by state elites caused military intervention. The Democrat Party’s anti-democratic actions, such as the establishment of investigation committees by seizing power from the single-party period constitution and the emergence of Fatherland Front (Vatan Cephesi), which clearly led to social fragmentation in the country, in addition to the Democrat Party’s oppressive policies against the media and universities, culminated in the May 27 coup. It was carried out by junior rank military officers and spoiled the hierarchical chain within the Turkish military. The coup was aimed to put an end to the increasingly oppressive and reactionary Menderes government. However, it soon became a movement that changed the social and political atmosphere of the country, especially after the adoption of the liberal 1961 constitution.
The 1961 constitution is considered the most liberal constitution of Turkey because it provided extensive basic rights and liberties for individuals and democratic actors, including trade unions and other non-governmental organizations. It has the most liberal and democratic content that Turkey has ever had. The new constitution provided a remarkable degree of freedom to the Turkish citizens. A wider spectrum of political activity was tolerated. The new regime was to assume a social, democratic and secular character. “Out of the new constitution’s 157 basic articles, 19 were devoted to social and economic rights and duties.” The constitution-making process in 1961 was very democratic. All political parties and civil society organizations participated in the formation of the constitution.
The 1961 Constitution established a bicameral parliament consisting of the National Assembly and the Senate. It established the Constitutional Court to look into the constitutionality of laws. Greater protection for civil liberties and fundamental rights were granted. The constitution also introduced a proportional representation electoral system. In order to decentralize power, the focus was also on the creation of autonomous institutions, such as universities and public broadcasters.
The 1982 Constitution
In 1980, another military intervention resulted in drafting the 1982 Constitution, which remains in force today with numerous amendments. The need to draft a new constitution was to establish a stronger executive branch and to limit political fragmentation because it was seen as a source of instability under the previous system.
The 1982 constitution again introduced a unicameral parliament (the Grand National Assembly of Turkey). It introduced a powerful presidential system, which was initially designed as a largely ceremonial role but with significant reserve powers. Keeping the military’s concerns about national security and unity in mind, restrictions on civil liberties and political activities have increased. The constitution established the National Security Council in order to give the military a formal role in politics. The concept of the 10% electoral threshold for political parties to enter Parliament was introduced aimed at reducing political fragmentation.
The 1982 Turkish Constitution was adopted under heavy military influence; no major political party or civil society organization was consulted at the time. The new constitution duly curtailed the very substantial political and social freedoms and built an essentially authoritarian regime, with the National Security Committee and, indeed, presidential authority overall strengthened, albeit pre-leveraged by military chief Kenan Evren. In practice, this resulted in a situation where the power of the military was exercised strongly over the government.
Brief Episodes of Democratisation
However, in these years, Turkey’s constitutional structure has experienced multiple democratization waves. In 1987, the voting age was lowered, and provisions to amend the constitution became easy. Around the early 1990s, there was another democratization wave when political activity bans were removed, the voting age was lowered to 18 years old, and loose restrictions on forming political parties and organizations were relaxed. A more significant change came with the third wave between 1999 and 2002, which abolished state security courts, made capital punishment unconstitutional, and put the military’s power in abeyance through the National Security Committee. The fourth wave, after 2002, by the Justice and Development Party brought the Turkish Constitution up to European standards of democratic countries.
Constitutional Amendments and the Transition to Presidential System
The 1982 Constitution has been amended several times since its enactment. Some of the most important ones are the following:
1. The 1995 amendments eliminated the many restrictions of the previous constitutional provision toward civil society organizations and trade unions.
2. The 2001 Amendment is very important because it strengthened civil liberties and gender equality.
3. The 2010 reforms brought change in the judiciary and decreased the role of the military in politics.
However, the most revolutionary change brought by the 2017 constitutional referendum turned the core of Turkey’s system of government upside down. This package of amendments, fully implemented following the elections in 2018, turned Turkey from a parliamentary system into a presidential one.
The Current Political Structure According to the 2017 Constitutional Amendment.
The 2017 constitutional amendments, followed by a referendum, changed the Turkish political system from a parliamentary form of governance to a presidential form of governance. It can be divided into three parts so that you can understand it easily.
The Executive
At the centre of Turkey’s political system is the President, who bears both the role of head of state and head of government. The people directly elect him for a five-year term with the possibility of being re-elected for an additional term. The 2017 amendment allowed the President to serve two terms. He enjoys vast executive powers through which he can issue decrees and appoint and sack ministers and high-ranking officers while having a role in the determination of policy in both foreign and domestic affairs. According to the 2017 amendment, he can appoint judges to the apex court. It is important to note that the position of the Prime Minister has been abolished in the amendment.
The Legislative
The Turkish Grand National Assembly, or Parliament, constitutes the legislative organ of the government. It consists of 600 deputies elected in provinces according to the system of proportional representation. The Parliament’s law making power constitutes the making, amendment, and abolition of laws. Apart from these powers, the Parliament also approves the budget and ratifies international agreements. However, its role has been diminished slightly in the presidential system through the 2017 amendment. However, Parliament remains an extremely important constituent part of government in order to pressure the President. In order to enter the grand assembly, the seven percent electoral threshold remains in place for political parties, which was decreased from ten percent in the 2017 amendment.
The Judiciary
The judiciary of Turkey is, in theory, independent, and the Constitutional Court leads it. It is meant to ensure that laws, as well as presidential decrees, are constitutional. This system further consists of the Court of Cassation, which is the court of appeal for the final disposal of civil and criminal cases. Besides these, administrative law falls under the purview of the Council of State. Questions have begun to arise in recent times regarding the independence of the judiciary and the presence of political influence over it. The Council of Judges and Prosecutors oversees the appointment and discipline of judges and prosecutors. In recent times, the President has increased influence over judicial appointments.
How Does the Electoral System Work?
Presidential and parliamentary elections are held simultaneously on the same day. In order to win the presidential election, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the total vote cast. If not, there will be a potential second round. There are certain conditions to run for the presidential post. The presidential candidate should be a Turkish citizen. He must hold at least a Bachelor’s degree and be at least 40 years old. The candidate is also required to seek a nomination by collecting 100,000 signatures from the citizens.
The parliamentarians in Turkey are elected through a system of proportional representation. This means that voters choose a political party rather than individual candidates, and the number of seats each party gets is proportional to the share of the overall vote they receive. The 600 parliamentary seats are divided up among 87 electoral districts that cover Turkey’s 81 provinces, with the number of seats per district based on the population size. In order to win seats in the Parliament, a political party needs to obtain at least 7% of the total national vote or be part of an alliance that reaches that threshold. The candidates themselves must be at least 18 years old to run. Once the votes are counted, the party or alliance that controls more than half of the 600 seats, which is 301 or more, is able to form the government and select the prime minister. Turkey is a unitary state, and power is centralized in the capital city. The country’s division into 81 provinces is solely for administrative purposes. The restructuring of the National Security Council as an advisory body has reduced the role of the military in Turkish politics.
Conclusion
The evolution of the Turkish Constitution reflects the nation’s complex journey from empire to republic, and from a parliamentary system to a strong presidential one. At every level of constitutional amendment, the essential questions are posed on introducing real dilemmas between the state and the balance of powers and, in fact, between the government and the people. The 2017 constitutional structure, though stable on some points, is still a subject of debate. Beyond all these challenges relating to economic development, regional tensions, and aspirations for greater democratic freedoms confronting Turkey as it enters the 21st century, the constitution will be a focal point of political discourse and potential future reforms. Understanding this constitutional journey is critically important in appreciating the Turkish political landscape and disputes about where to take it now. As the country continues changing, so may its bedrock legal structure, ever reflective of that fine balancing between old and new, between state and freedom, inherent in the Turkish political experience since the dawn of the modern state.
