The constitutional referendum of the 12th of September 2010 was potentially the most important political development of last year in Turkey. The referendum process itself and the proposed amendments to the constitution were marked by significant political events that helped plant the seeds in the minds of Turkey’s citizens that the “Old Turkey” was gone. However, certain political practices and the legacy of the, “Old Turkey” still linger. Nevertheless, the constitutional referendum strengthened the transformation of a “New Turkey” based on a healthy democratic process. During the referendum process, historical and political actors of Turkey’s establishment were either replaced or order under the “Old Turkey’s” military and judiciary tutelage, and compete with the AK Party’s dynamic government. In the process leading up to the June General Elections of 2011, Kılıcdaroglu runs the risk of continuing on a path without direction and being mired in an effort to get his political establishment and his base constituency to approve of a new CHP construction. transformed. In this context, the CHP (Republican’s People Party) lost its leader, Deniz Baykal, who was the symbol of the party; the MHP (Nationalist Action Party) lost its conservative political base, which was its backbone; the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) lost its democratic voice;, the army lost its dominant position among Turkey’s political establishment; and the judiciary lost the privilege to overstep its judicial bounds.
In the midst of the debate on the constitutional amendments, the leader of the CHP was forced to resign due to a scandal, and was replaced by the new leader of the CHP, Kemal Kılıcdaroglu. This new leadership attempted to re-enter the political scene by presenting a “new CHP” in sink with a “New Turkey.” However, the CHP did not question its past nor develop a radically different or new political platform. In fact, the only significant change was in the leadership of the party. Kılıcdaroglu is still trying to find the CHP’s place in Turkish politics by balancing the CHP’s rigid ideological base, it’s image in the media, the weakening of the established
Another significant issue of the last year was the Kurdish question and the issue of terrorism in the context of the Democratic Opening. The Democratic Opening, which was launched in 2009, maintained its experimental learning process for all sides during 2010. Political, bureaucratic, and civilian actors began a discussion on this issue that was unprecedented in the “Old Turkey.” However, during this same period, the PKK continued its operations. The position of the MHP by supporting such activities caused Turkish society to question the peaceful outcome of the Democratic Opening and ran the risk of putting the blame on and even discrediting the AK Party for proposing and implementing such a policy. However, the opposite took place. The Turkish people responded to the constitutional referendum with a resounding “YES” to the construction of a “new Turkey.” The implications of the referendum are far reaching, going well beyond the approval of the constitutional amendments or a mere vote of confidence for the AK Party. This “YES” vote laid down the basis and asked the hard questions of what this “new Turkey” would look like. .
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Turkey was thrown into an international crisis with the Mavi Marmara incident of May 2
