Turkey, which has experienced a number of military interventions and coup attempts, needs to rewrite the current constitution which is ironically the product of the Sept. 12 military coup.
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The most important issue facing the AK Party, and of course the Parliament that has been shaped by the Nov. 1 elections, is the writing up of a new, civilian constitution.
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Terrorist organizations are not entirely dissimilar to the mafia: Both terrorists and gangsters spill blood in an effort to spread fear and oppress innocent people.
The summit gave a strong signal to the international audience that Turkey is an indispensable political and economic partner in the world system that continuously stresses peaceful and value-oriented approaches to humanity's common problems.
Turkish politics is stuck on the question of who should become the next president of Turkey. The more Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan avoids talking about it, the more aggressive the opposition becomes. It is not only the opposition parties that are stuck on the question. The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) cadres are in no better a position. No one dares speak about the new president. From the heavyweights to the ordinary supporters of the AK Party, they all say the same thing: if Erdoğan wants it, he should get it because he deserves it. No other presidential election in recent memory, with the exception of that of Turgut Özal, has been as hotly debated as this one.
Turkeys long-standing Kurdish issue was also mentioned in the commentaries as a major issue that awaited a comprehensive solution.
Pre-new constitution period is an appropriate time to discuss the disadvantages of the current political system and to pursue the quest for a new political system.
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One of the most significant elections in Turkey's recent political history is over. These are the first elections after the Gezi Park incidents of last year and the Dec.17 operation against the government and the last elections before the first direct presidential elections will be held.
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AKP will retain power in Turkey only if it consolidates its party institutions and expands its constituency.
The Turkish electorate will vote for the president and the presidential system during the elections, but the aftermath of the elections will bring new debates regardless of who wins. There will also be debates regarding the functioning of the new system.
Opposition parties vehemently objected to the proposal of a presidential system, arguing that it will lead Turkey to an authoritarian, one-man regime. But upon close inspection, it can be seen that a presidential system is not necessarily authoritarian or undemocratic.
As an emerging power from the Middle East and North Africa, Turkey must be more visible in Latin America and we very likely will be.
The main theme of the meeting related to Turkey's need to design a unique type of presidential system in light of its own democratic progress.
A presidential system will also allow better macro-policy coordination among the Finance, Development, Industry and Social Security Ministries and international trade, as there will be a clear line of upward hierarchy and better performance monitoring.
Which constitutional regime provides a better political framework for the foundation of development-friendly institutional compacts and effective state-business relations?
As the HDP lacks necessary experience to focus on religion and popular demands in their election campaigns, it is impossible for the Kurdish political movement to compete with the AK Party at the national level
Last week, Erdoğan attended a conference on Turkey's transition to presidentialism at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) and stressed that the political leadership was "addressing issues that the Ottoman-Turkish modernization project had ignored for two centuries to build the system of government anew."
The parliamentary system in Turkey did not isolate or end the antidemocratic means of intervention in democratic processes.
In Turkey's political history, coalition governments have been marred by internal wrangling, turf wars, failures in governance, acute corruption and so forth.
There will be no major impact on the relations between Turkey and Europe because Turkey will still be a democratic country with a democratically elected leader.
A new push in Turkey's democratization and development drive will await us on June 8 so that the accumulated legacy of the last decade is not wasted.