Erdogan is seen during a ceremony yesterday at the Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Republic of Turkey, to mark the 77th anniversary of Ataturk’s death.
Reuters
Ankara/Istanbul
Turkey’s incoming government should prioritise a new constitution, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday, reviving calls for an executive presidency even as Europe signalled concern it could concentrate too much power in his hands.
His comments were echoed by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who said a new constitution must ensure freedoms and be based on the separation of powers.
He also said the ruling AK Party would embark on a series of reforms in the next six months.
Emboldened by the AKP’s sweeping electoral comeback on November 1, Erdogan has stepped up his appeal for a presidential system similar to that of the United States or Russia, something his critics fear that will only consolidate more power in the hands of an authoritarian leader who brooks little dissent.
“The November 1 election ushered in four years of stability and confidence. Let’s make this period a time of reforms, prioritising a new constitution,” Erdogan said at a ceremony for modern Turkey’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
“The Turkish republic has enjoyed its best period in the last 13 years,” he said, referring to the reign of the Islamist-rooted AKP, which he founded. “Now, we shouldn’t be worried about changing the nature of the regime.”
The AKP took 317 of the 550 seats in parliament at the November 1 snap parliamentary election, just shy of the 330 seats required to hold a referendum on changing the constitution.
In the run-up to the vote, the government stoked fears that press freedom and rights were worsening in Turkey, a Nato member and a candidate for European Union membership.
Security forces launched a crackdown on Kurdish militants in the southeast, while opposition media also came under pressure.
Yesterday the European Commission urged Turkey to lift restrictions on media freedom, respect human rights and relaunch peace talks with Kurdish militants.
In its annual progress report on Turkey, whose decade-long accession talks with the EU have largely stalled, the Commission also noted with concern perceptions that Erdogan had overstepped his constitutional role.
A new constitution would help fix a system that creates tension between the president and the prime minister, Davutoglu said in an interview with state broadcaster TRT.
A former political science professor and newspaper columnist, Davutoglu has been unable to step out of Erdogan’s shadow, even though the presidency is traditionally a largely ceremonial role.
Davutoglu said Turkey would embark on a major reform process in the next six months and would carry out economic, social and judicial reforms, without giving further details.
“We should create a free constitution, compatible with universal values,” he said.
