February 03, 2016•Update: February 03, 2016
ANKARA
A committee of lawmakers is to meet Thursday for initial talks on reforming Turkey’s constitution.
The Constitution Conciliation Committee of 12 deputies - three from each of Turkey’s four parliamentary parties - will be chaired by Parliamentary Speaker Ismail Kahraman.
The committee’s first meeting is expected to focus on procedures, principles and duration of the committee’s work.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who previously called for the committee to produce a report within six months, said he believed the cross-party committee would “make appropriate, constructive, inclusive and serious contributions in according of spirit of conciliation.”
Addressing a meeting of provincial heads of the Justice and Development (AK) Party, Davutoglu added: “Now that we have a consensus on the need for a new constitution in Turkey, we must discuss the subject without falling victim to complexes, without making it personal or getting entangled in party politics.”
Much of Turkey’s current constitution date backs to the military regime of the early 1980s.
Although all parties recognize the need for constitutional reform, the AK Party is the only one that supports a change from a parliamentary system to a presidential model.
The prime minister warned opposition members against targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during constitutional discussions.
“Putting our president at the center of the talks and turning them into a discussion of personalization is a betrayal of the constitution-making process,” he said. “This issue is not a personal issue for us.”
