Constitution of Turkey

Turkey

This article is part of the series:

The current Constitution of Turkey, ratified on November 7th 1982, establishes the
organization of the government of the Republic of Turkey and sets out the principles and rules of
the state's conduct along with its responsibilities towards its citizens. The Constitution also
establishes the rights and responsibilities of the latter while setting the guidelines for the
delegation and exercise of sovereignty that belongs to the Turkish Nation.

Contents
• 1 History
• 2 Overview
○ 2.1 Part One: Founding principles
○ 2.2 Part Two: Individual and Group Rights
 2.2.1 Equality of citizens
 2.2.2 Freedom of expression
 2.2.3 Group rights
○ 2.3 Part Three: Fundamental Organs
 2.3.1 Legislative Power
 2.3.2 Judiciary
 2.3.3 Executive
 2.3.3.1 National security
 ○ 2.4 Revision
• 3 Critique
○ 3.1 Ethnic rights
○ 3.2 Freedom of expression
○ 3.3 Influence of the military
• 4 Footnotes
• 5 References
• 6 External links

History
The current Constitution of Turkey was ratified in 1982 by popular referendum during the
military junta of 1980-1983. Since its ratification in 1982, the Constitution of 1982 has overseen
many important events and changes in the Republic of Turkey, and it has been modified many
times to keep up with global and regional geopolitical conjunctures.
It is the fourth constitution of the Republic of Turkey: The first Turkish Constitution was the
Constitution of 1921, followed by the Constitution of 1924 and the Constitution of 1961. It was
last amended in 2004 and is currently being reviewed.[1]
Overview
Part One: Founding principles
The Constitution asserts that Turkey is a secular (2.1) and democratic (2.1), republic (1.1) that
derives its sovereignty (6.1) from the people. The sovereignty rests with the Turkish Nation, who
delegates its exercise to an elected unicameral parliament, the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
The Article 4 declares the immovability of the founding principles of the Republic defined in the
first three Articles and bans any proposals for their modification. The preamble also invokes the
principles of nationalism, defined as the "material and spiritual well-being of the Republic". The
basic nature of Turkey is laïcité (2), social equality (2), equality before law (10), the Republican
form of government (1), the indivisibility of the Republic and of the Turkish Nation (3.1)." Thus,
it sets out to found a unitary nation-state based on the principles of secular democracy.
Fundamental Aims and Duties of the State is defined in Article 5. Constitution establishes a
separation of powers between the Legislative Power (7.1), Executive Power (8.1), and Judicial
Power (9.1) of the state. The separation of powers between the legislative and the executive is a
loose one, whereas the one between the executive and the legislative with the judiciary is a strict
one.
Part Two: Individual and Group Rights
Further information: Human rights in Turkey
Part Two of the constitution is the bill of rights. Article Twelve guarantees "fundamental rights
and freedoms", which are defined as including the:
• Article 17: Personal Inviolability, Material and Spiritual Entity of the Individual (right to
life)
 • Article 18: Prohibition of Forced Labour
• Article 19: Personal Liberty and Security (security of person)
• Article 20: Privacy of Individual Life
• Article 21: Inviolability of the Domicile
• Article 22: Freedom of Communication
• Article 23: Freedom of Residence and Movement
• Article 24: Freedom of Religion and Conscience
• Article 25: Freedom of Thought and Opinion
• Article 26: Freedom of Expression and Dissemination of Thought
• Article 27: Freedom of Science and the Arts
• Article 35: Right to property
Article Five of the Constitution sets out the raison d'être of the Turkish state, namely "to
provide the conditions required for the development of the individual’s material and spiritual
existence".
Many of these entrenched rights have their basis in international bills of rights, such as the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Turkey was one of the first nations to ratify in
December 1948.[2]
Equality of citizens
Besides the provisions establishing Turkey as a secular state, Article 10 goes further with regards
to equality of its citizens by prohibiting any discrimination based on their "language, race, color,
sex, political opinion, philosophical convictions or religious beliefs" and guaranteeing their
equality in the eyes of the law. Borrowing from the French Revolutionary ideals of the nation
and the Republic, Article 3 affirms that "The Turkish State, with its territory and nation, is an
indivisible entity. Its language is Turkish". Article 66 defines a Turkish civic identity: "everyone
bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship is a Turk".
Freedom of expression
Article 26 establishes freedom of expression and Articles 27 and 28 the freedom of the press,
while Articles 33 and 34 affirm the freedom of association and freedom of assembly,
respectively.
Group rights
Classes are considered irrelevant in legal terms (A10). The Constitution affirms the right of
workers to form labor unions "without obtaining permission" and "to possess the right to become
a member of a union and to freely withdraw from membership" (A51). Articles 53 and 54 affirm
the right of workers to bargain collectively and to strike, respectively.
Part Three: Fundamental Organs
Legislative Power
Article Seven provides for the establishment of a unicameral parliament as the sole organ of
expression of sovereign people. Article Six of the Constitution affirms that "sovereignty is vested
fully and unconditionally in the nation" and that "the Turkish Nation shall exercise its
sovereignty through the authorised organs as prescribed by the principles laid down in the
Constitution". The same article also rules out the delegation of sovereignty "to any individual,
group or class" and affirms that "no person or agency shall exercise any state authority which
does not emanate from the Constitution". Article 80 (A80) affirms the principle of national
sovereignty: "members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly represent, not merely their own
constituencies or constituents, but the Nation as a whole".
Part Three, Chapter One (Articles 75-100) sets the rules for the election and functioning of the
Turkish Grand National Assembly as the legislative organ, as well as the conditions of eligibility
(A76), parliamentary immunity (A83) and general legislative procedures to be followed. Per
Articles 87 and 88, both the government and the parliament can propose laws, however it is only
the parliament that has the power to enact laws (A87) and ratify treaties of the Republic with
other sovereign states (A90).
The President of the Republic is elected by the parliament and has a largely ceremonial role as
the Head of State, "representing the Republic of Turkey and the unity of the Turkish Nation"
(A104).
See also: Politics of Turkey, Grand National Assembly of Turkey, President of Turkey, Prime
Minister of Turkey, and Council of Ministers of Turkey
Judiciary
Article Nine affirms that the "judicial power shall be exercised by independent courts on behalf
of the Turkish Nation". Part Four provides the rules relating to its functioning and guarantees
full independence (A137-140). The judiciary obeys the modern separation of powers among its
ranks: It is divided into two entities, Administrative Justice and Judicial Justice, with the
Danıştay (The Council of State) the highest court for the former (A155) and Yargıtay (High
Court of Appeals) the highest court for the latter (154).
Part Four, Section Two allows for a Constitutional Court that statutes on the conformity of law
and governmental decrees to the Constitution, and it can be seized by the President of the
Republic, the government, the members of Parliament (A150) or any judge before whom an
exception of unconstitutionality has been raised by a defendant or a plaintiff (A152). The
Constitutional Court has the right to both a priori and a posteriori review, and it can invalidate
whole laws or decrees and ban their application for all future cases (A153).
See also: Legal system of the Republic of Turkey and Constitutional Court of Turkey
Executive
Per Article Eight, the executive power is vested in the President of the Republic and the Council
of Ministers. Part Three, Chapter One, Section Two (Articles 109-116) lays out the rules for the
confirmation and functioning of the government as the executive comprising the Prime Minister
and the Council of Ministers (A109).
Part Three, Chapter Two, Section Four organizes the functioning of the central administration
and certain important institutions of the Republic such as its universities (A130-132), local
administrations (A127), fundamental public services (A128) and national security (A117-118).
Article 123 stipulates that "the organisation and functions of the administration are based on the
principles of centralization and local administration".
National security
The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) are subordinate to the President, in the capacity of
Commander-in-Chief. The Chief of General Staff of the TAF is responsible to the Prime
Minister in the exercise of his functions, and the latter is responsible, along with the rest of the
Council of Ministers, before the parliament (A117).
National Security Council is an advisory organization, comprising the Chief of General Staff and
the four main Commanders of the TAF and select members of the Council of Ministers, to
develop the "national security policy of the state" (A118).
Revision
In Article 175, it also sets out the procedure of its own revision and amendment by either
referendum or a qualified majority vote of 2/3 in the National Assembly. It does not recognize
the right to popular initiatives: Only the members of Parliament can propose modifications to the
Constitution.
Critique
Ethnic rights
The Constitution of 1982 has been criticized as limiting individual cultural and political liberties
in comparison with the previous constitution of 1961. Critics claim that the constitution denies
the fundamental rights of the Kurdish population.[who?] Per the Treaty of Lausanne which
established the Turkish Republic, legally, the only minorities are Greeks, Armenians and Jews,
which also have certain privileges not recognized to other ethnic communities, per the treaty.
Article Three, implicitly, and Article Ten, explicitly, ban (in the spirit of Turkishness based on
citizenship rather than ethnicity mentioned above) the division of the Turkish Nation into sub-
entities and the referral to ethnic groups in law as being separate from the rest of the Turkish
Nation because of the principle of indivisibility of the nation. This principle of indivisibility is
contained in the Article One of the Constitution of France (ratified in 1958), as well.
Article Three states that the official language of the Republic of Turkey is Turkish. The Council
of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published its third
report on Turkey in February 2005. The commission has taken the position that the parliament
should revise Article 42 of the Constitution, which prohibits the teaching of any language other
than Turkish as a first language in schools. [3] The Turkish constitutional principle of not
allowing the teaching of other languages as first languages in schools to its citizens, other than
the official one, is similar to the policies of Germany, France and Austria, all members of the
European Union.[citation needed] Since 2003, private courses teaching minority languages can be
offered, but the curriculum, appointment of teachers, and criteria for enrollment are subject to
significant restrictions. All private Kurdish courses were closed down in 2005 because of
bureaucratic barriers and the reluctance of Kurds to have to "pay to learn their mother tongue."[4]
Freedom of expression
The constitution grants freedom of expression, as declared in Article 26. Article 301 of the
Turkish penal code states that "A person who publicly denigrates the Turkish Nation, the
Republic or the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, shall be punishable by imprisonment of
between six months and three years" and also that "Expressions of thought intended to criticize
shall not constitute a crime".
Orhan Pamuk's remark "One million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in these lands,
and nobody but me dares talk about it." was considered by some to be a violation of Article 10 of
the Constitution and led to his trial in 2005. The complaint against Orhan Pamuk was made by a
group of lawyers led by Kemal Kerinçsiz and charges filed by a district prosecutor under the
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. Pamuk was later released and charges annulled by the
justice ministry on a technicality. The same group of lawyers have also filed complaints against
other lesser-known authors on the same grounds. Kerinçsiz was indicted in the 2008 Ergenekon
investigation, along with many others.
Influence of the military
The constitution is also criticised for giving the Turkish Armed Forces, who see themselves as
the guardians of the secular and unitary nature of the Republic along with Atatürk's reforms, too
much influence in political affairs via the National Security Council.[citation needed]
Footnotes
1. ^ Yavuz, Ercan (2008-09-15). "Parties to draft constitution without CHP". Today's
Zaman. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=153150.
Retrieved 2008-09-15.
2. ^ "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights". Collège universitaire Henry Dunant.
2008-03-11. http://www.aidh.org/uni/Formation/02Charte_a.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
3. ^
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/report_2005/pdf/package/sec_1426_final_en_pro
gress_report_tr.pdf[dead link]
4. ^ http://www.minorityrights.org/download.php?id=425

References
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Constitution of the Republic of Turkey
• (English) The current constitution from the prime minister's press office.
• (English) The current constitution from the University of Bern.
• (Turkish) The current constitution from the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

External links
• Turkish Constitutional Law Materials in English by Kemal Gözler, Professor of
Constitutional Law, Uludag University Law School.
Constitution of Turkey

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