What’s behind Erdogan’s New Constitutional Changes?

Alwaght- Six months to the presidential elections, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has increased his activities to continue his presence in the power. From the normalization of the relations with the Syrian government and the Israeli regime and mediation in Ukraine war to efforts to change the constitution are the ways Erdogan is referring to for a stay in power. Meanwhile, in recent days, he unveiled a new package of amendments to the constitution. 

Saying that the package of the constitutional changes is prepared by the government, Erdogan maintained that it would improve instability and welfare in the country. According to him, the drafting of a new constitutional amendments in full compliance with the national will is one of the goals of the “Turkish century” vision, and “we are determined to implement this new constitution in a manner worthy of the new age of Turkey. We implement it with the approval of the parliament and the consent of our people.” 

According to the new package of the constitutional amendments, the Turkish government intends to amend Article 24, which addresses the freedom of religion and add some new words saying that no one should be discriminated against in education and work life because of the form of their clothing. Also, it is stated in Article 41 of the constitution that the family is the foundation of Turkish society and it is based on the equality of couples. The government wants to change the term couple due to its ambiguity and alter it to man and woman. Another suggestion is to add the explanation of male and female in front of the word family. Erdogan had previously said about these important amendments that they will preserve all women's rights and protect the institution of the family in the country from the threat of “deviant trends.” Erdogan said that if this issue is not resolved in the parliament, he will leave it to the people to comment on it. 

According to reports emanating from Turkey, the debate over hijab is heating as the presidential and parliamentary elections are drawing close. Although a majority of the country's people are Muslims, the separation of the religion from politics is mentioned in the constitution. For long years, women had no rights to wear hijab in the state organizations and workplaces, but the ruling Justice and Development Party revoked this law in 2013 and now plans to eliminate any discrimination in this regard to ensure equality of the rights of women with hijab to those without it. 

In order to amend the constitution, at least 50 percent of the people must vote in favor. Also, 330 members out of 600 members of the parliament must agree to the change and if Turkish legislators give a positive opinion, the way will be paved for holding a referendum. If the constitutional referendum is held, this will be the 24th constitutional change in the 100-year history of the modern Turkey, which means that the country has witnessed a constitutional change every four years on average. 

By holding a referendum on the issue of hijab, Erdogan wants to show the people of his country, contrary to the arguments of the opponents who accuse him of being a dictator, his government is the most democratic government that bases its work on the opinion of the people in all state affairs. In other words, Erdogan is trying to pretend that all the laws are based on the opinion and vote of the people and that the government is the only an executor and everything that goes on in the society is based on the national will. 

Records of constitutional amendments 
The constitutional amendments under Erdogan have precedents, and before this he had introduced substantial reforms to the national constitution to solidify his power. Having a strong greed for power, Erdogan did not find sufficient 11 years of ruling as prime minister and therefore took another way to retain the power under a new title. 

In 2013, Erdogan took advantage of AKP’s absolute majority in the parliament and changed the political system of this country from a parliamentary to a presidential one. At that time, the MPs agreed to the amendments with 339 votes, and Erdogan recorded his name as the first president of Turkey by winning the 2014 presidential election. 

The constitutional changes were put to referendum in 2017, namely three years of their approval by the parliament, with over 50 percent of people voting in favor. Although the plan was initially proposed for political system change, the failed military coup of 2016 against Erdogan had led to amendments to many of the constitutional articles, empowering the president and giving him a mandate to sway many state affairs. 

With the constitutional changes, Erdogan became the strongest man and practically seized the whole power. This triggered accusations by the opposition labeling him a dictator. The 2017 amendments paved the way for Erdogan to run for a third term, and if he wins 2023 elections, he retains the president post for the third time. 

Still, amending the articles addressing hijab is meant to attract popular support ahead of the elections, and by increasing the freedom of the women with hijab and eliminating the discrimination against them, he tries to win their vote. Changing the law to end discrimination against women with hijab on the eve of the election is a sequel to the same scenario that was carried out in 2013 before the first round of the presidential election. 

In recent months, Erdogan has shown that he does everything to retain power, including breaking with his past policies and sitting on the table with his opponents. So, perhaps in run up to the elections, such movements by him would be more observable in order to win the majority vote. His popularity has been declining since last year due to economic problems and sky-rocketing inflation, and, thus, he is trying to attract all sections of the society with new initiatives in the remaining months and to silence the voice of the opposition, which is getting louder every day. 

The presidential election was originally scheduled for 2014 but since according to the 2017 constitutional amendments the parliamentary and presidential elections should be held simultaneously every five years, it is planned to be held a year earlier. 

Although Erdogan's resorting to all instruments and ways at his disposal for election victory make a positive point for him, his watchful opponents are highlighting his economic and foreign policy failures to dissuade the public opinion from voting for him. Perhaps this time history is not written as he wishes and next year elections can mark end of his two-decade political life.