Mavi Boncuk The head of Turkey’s largest business lobby on Monday called for an all-new constitution, as the country’s stock markets surged to a record high in the wake of a referendum victory for the government on changes to the existing one.
It?s only natural that when talking about the recent results of the referendum, we opine about its winners and its losers. From the perspective of political parties, there is quite a clear picture emerging: The victor in this referendum was the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which was able to garner ?yes? votes for the referendum much as it did for itself in the last elections.
Republican People?s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said in Brussels: ?Why shouldn?t we consider visiting Menderes? grave? If conditions are appropriate, I, too, may visit it. Menderes was a person who performed great services for his country. He was an honorable person. He was tried by a political court and was hanged.?
The Prime Minister has asked party officials to prepare a report analyzing why people in Turkey’s coastal regions mostly voted ‘no’ in the referendum Sunday.
Now that Turkey has left behind the Sept. 12 referendum on a 26-article package of reforms prepared by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and approved by 58 percent of the electorate, there is discussion about the steps Turkey should take.
There is a quite an interesting paradox in Turkey that needs to be analyzed. The more educated people are, the greater and deeper their attachment to the military and civil bureaucratic guardianship in Turkey.
Mavi Boncuk | The Communist Party of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Komünist Partisi, TKP) was a political party in Turkey. The party was founded by Mustafa Suphi[1] at 10 September 1920 in Baku when the “1st and General Congress of Turkish Communists” was attended by 74 delegates from Anatolia, Istanbul and Soviet Union. The Congress elected Mustafa Suphi as Chairman, Ethem Nejat[3] as General Secretary and a Central Committee with seven members. TKP was soon to be banned [4][5]. It worked as a clandestine opposition party throughout the Cold War era, and was persecuted by the various military regimes. In the 1988 the party merged into the United Communist Party of Turkey, in an attempt to gain legal recognition.
The result of the referendum was not only a victory for those who voted ?yes? to democratization or for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) leadership, but also for an elderly gentleman whose name has strongly been linked with an endless pursuit for European-style social democracy in Turkey.
The constitutional referendum?s outcome has demonstrated once again that the population is in favor of the ongoing reform process. It isn?t pointless to view this referendum as a test for the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which came to power as a result of society?s desire for change and became the standard bearer for this process.
Political party leaders do not act only on their own account but also represent broad masses of people. The emerging polemical bickering between individuals is actually a manifestation of our social subconscious.
When Erdoğan was elected mayor of İstanbul in 1994, I was very afraid and reacted in a way typical of elistist Turks, thinking that ?İstanbul has fallen.? However, I took a different approach and tried to get to know him and his constituency.
The Islamic-rooted governing party proved its popularity with its victory this week in a referendum on changes to the Constitution, but analysts say the vote was also about the country’s future identity.
The annual ?Transatlantic Trends? survey, conducted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Compagnia di San Paolo in Italy, has come out. For the actual poll and some results regarding Turkey, click here, and then Turkey.
When Turkey?s East and Southeast is viewed as a whole, it is possible to say that the Peace and Democracy Party?s (BDP) call to boycott the referendum was not taken seriously.
The rumblings about Turkey potentially moving from its current broadly parliamentary system of governance to a more purely presidential one deserve closer attention than I currently have time to give them. But the effects of different institutional arrangements on the democratisation process have been well researched and I?d like to share this summary from an article entitled ?What Makes Democracies Endure?, which was contributed to the Journal of Democracy by Adam Przeworksi and others in 1996:
Undoubtedly, one of the biggest losers of the referendum held on Sunday for government-sponsored constitutional reforms was Republican People?s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who had a clear defeat with the 58 percent national support for the reforms.
The constitutional referendum on Sunday depicted an interesting picture of Turkish society. In the Southeast, a significant number of Kurds protested the referendum and did not vote.
The results of the referendum should have a transformative impact on the leadership of all political parties in Turkey. A referendum is not only a decision-making process. It is also a learning process.
Each clause of the constitutional amendment package, approved in last Sunday?s referendum, is important in furthering Turkish democratic standards. Fifty-eight percent of Turkish voters approved the first comprehensive amendments ever made to the 1982 military-dictated Constitution, and this has encouraged the political authority to start preparations for a brand new civilian constitution, the first since the 1960 military coup.
Now that the constitutional amendments have passed with 58 percent of the vote what will be next on Turkey?s agenda. While the referendum is a major victory for Turkish democracy and the Erdoğan government, the underlying fault lines of Turkish politics, with its fragile alignments, are still in place and point to a difficult period for consensus building on the country?s key issues.
from open Democracy News Analysis – by Gunes Murat Tezcur
Turkey?s constitutional referendum on 12 September 2010 saw a clear majority of voters endorsing a set of amendments proposed by the Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (Justice & Development Party / AKP) government. The reward of this government?s energetic campaign on behalf of the package was a ?yes? vote of 58%, on a 77% turnout.
Last Sunday a solid majority of the Turkish electorate endorsed the government?s efforts towards adopting a more civilian-oriented constitution. While the supporters of the ?yes? camp deservedly celebrate their victory, the ?no? camp should not be left in the political wilderness.
If one thing is clear among the lessons that could be drawn from the public referendum held last Sunday over major constitutional changes, the grip of the violent terrorist organization the Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK) and its uncompromising political wing, the Peace and Democratic Party (BDP), over the free and democratic Kurdish electorate was really loosened.
Mavi Boncuk The head of Turkey’s largest business lobby on Monday called for an all-new constitution, as the country’s stock markets surged to a record high in the wake of a referendum victory for the government on changes to the existing one.
