Turkey’s Procedural Challenges to Making a New Constitution

Designing, adopting and implementing a new liberal democratic constitution focused on the rights of the individual, pose a formidable challenge to Turkey. Virtually all non-governmental organizations, political parties and legal scholars have criticized the Constitution of 1982 as a reflection of an authoritarian and statist spirit, largely as a result of the very process by which the constitution was made and adopted. The question then arises as to why all subsequent efforts to make and adopt a new constitution have failed. Focusing on only the content and context of a new constitution, rather than also emphasizing a democratic constitution-making process, ignores a significant principle of modern constitution-making. We therefore come to the question of what possible solutions may be applicable to Turkey’s dilemma. Designing, adopting, and successfully implementing a new democratic constitution require transparency and a comprehensive consensus, which can only be achieved through an inclusive process that is suitable to Turkey’s circumstances and the core values of Turkish society. I will begin by examining Turkey’s experience with the constitutionmaking process, giving a brief background on the constitutional debate in Turkey and mentioning some of the most important features that appear to have had an effect on the process of its creation. I will then analyze the main constitutional-making systems in the world. Ultimately, I am not going to give a magical solution regarding which system would be suitable to Turkey’s circumstances. Instead, I will argue that even though there is no set prototype for the structural design of a new constitution, there are principles that should be followed in order to maintain a democratic constitution-making process.