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KurdistanObserver.com
New Draft Turkish
Constitution Foresees Easing Restrictions Religions And Ethnic Identity
By Gareth Jenkins
Eurasia Daily
September 13, 2007
A draft of the planned new Turkish constitution has been leaked to the media,
and it suggests that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) is planning to ease
restrictions on the expression of religious and non-Turkish ethnic identities
while reducing the political influence of the Turkish military.
Since it first announced plans to draw up a new constitution, the AKP has been
heavily criticized for apparently reneging on a commitment to consult with a
cross-section of Turkish society and ensuring that the content of the draft
remained shrouded in secrecy. On September 4, AKP Deputy Chairman Dengir Mir
Mehmet Firat, the head of the committee overseeing the preparation of the new
constitution, declared that the draft had been completed, describing it as a
constitution by and for the people. But he declined to make the text of the
document publicly available.
However, on September 12, the Turkish television news channel CNNTurk published
a leaked copy of the draft on its website. The text includes the text of the
proposed constitution together with suggestions for possible amendments or
alternative clauses.
The draft proposes easing restrictions on the use of the Kurdish language.
Although private Kurdish language courses are now permitted, it still cannot be
used in Turkish schools, either as a medium of instruction or as a “foreign”
language. Article 3 of the current constitution on the basic characteristics of
the Turkish Republic states “Its language is Turkish.” However, Article 3 of the
new draft amends the clause to read, “Its official language is Turkish.” Article
45 explicitly allows education in other languages provided that new laws are
promulgated to that effect.
The new draft reduces the military’s representation on the National Security
Council (NSC) by abolishing the membership of the Gendarmerie Commander. It also
suggests transferring both the chairing of NSC and the drafting of meeting
agendas from the president to the prime minister. More controversially, it
proposes making decisions of the Supreme Military Council (SMC), which in the
past has been frequently used to purge the officer corps of suspected Islamist
sympathizers, eligible for appeal in a civilian court. But the AKP has resisted
pressure from both the EU and its own party members to make the Turkish General
Staff subordinate to the Defense Ministry rather than, as at present, merely
responsible to the Prime Ministry (Radikal, September 13).
The draft preserves the commitment to secularism contained in the current
constitution and that was originally introduced by the republic’s founder,
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938). However, although it reaffirms its loyalty to
Ataturk’s legacy, the new draft contains noticeably fewer references to
preserving and protecting his principles.
Under the current constitution, religious instruction is compulsory throughout
the Turkish school system. The new draft makes religious lessons optional.
However, it also contains a much stronger commitment to freedom of conscience
and belief -- something hard-line secularists believe will allow radical
Islamists to shift the focus of religious education away from the
state-monitored school system by making it easier to open private Koran courses.
Most contentiously, a proposed “alternative” to the main draft of Article 45 of
the new constitution includes a commitment to ensuring that the manner in which
people are dressed does not prevent them from receiving a higher education. In
practice, this would result in lifting the current ban on wearing the Islamic
headscarf in Turkish universities (Radikal, September 13).
On September 4, Firat dismissed suggestions by Turkish journalists that the new
draft would include proposals to lift the headscarf ban, arguing that how people
dressed was not a subject for a constitution (NTV, CNNTurk, September 4;
Hurriyet, Sabah, Milliyet, September 5).
Even though the AKP has only consulted with a small number of party members and
handpicked academics, on September 12, Firat angrily dismissed claims that the
draft constitution had been drawn up by the AKP.
“Those who regard the draft as being prepared by the AKP either don’t know
Turkish or their brains have atrophied,” he said (Milliyet, September 13).
Nevertheless, a number of other organizations, including the Turkish Bar
Association and a committee established by NGOs, have responded to being
excluded from the consultation process by drawing up their own drafts of a
possible new constitution.
The AKP has announced that it does not expect to try to promulgate the new
constitution before early 2008. But the secrecy with which it has been prepared
and the controversial nature of some of the draft’s provisions look set to
ensure that it overshadows the domestic agenda over the months ahead. Particular
attention will be paid to the attitude of the Turkish military, which is
currently regrouping after being outmaneuvered in its attempts to prevent
Abdullah Gul from being appointed Turkey’ president . The military has yet to
react to the leaked draft text of the new constitution, but no one expects its
silence to last indefinitely. |
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