Turkish Prez Erdogan pledges to make new constitution

Ankara: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to make a new constitution in the new term of the parliament and invited all political parties and all segments of the society to join the effort.

“Now we have a new task and a new opportunity before us. This is to give our country a new and civilian constitution,” Erdogan said in a speech at the opening ceremony for the new legislative year of the parliament, Xinhua news agency reported.

“We invite all parties, all MPs (members of parliament), all social segments, and everyone who has a say and proposal on this issue, to join our call for a new constitution with a constructive understanding,” he said.

Erdogan said his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was open to all kinds of compromises to draft the constitution, and they expected the same constructive approach from other political actors.

Erdogan has been pushing for a new constitution to replace the current one, which was ratified in 1982 and has been amended 19 times since then. The last amendment in 2017 introduced a presidential system and abolished the parliamentary system.

Erdogan has been leading the country since he became prime minister in 2003.

He became the first executive president of Turkey in 2018 following a constitutional referendum in 2017 which changed Turkish parliamentary system into a presidential one.

In May, Erdogan was elected as a president for his third term. The AKP has been working on a draft charter since last year.

IANS