Governance and the Turkish Constitutions: Past and Future

Abstract

After winning the elections for the second time in 2007 the Justice and Development Party (AKP) embarked upon endeavors to revise drastically the Constitution of 1982 and for that purpose commissioned the preparation of a draft of new constitution. The apparent reason was to make it to conform to the EU principles. However, the intent of revising/rewriting the Constitution has led to serious polemics in the Country; the opponents accuse the AKP of undermining secularism that has been one of the guiding principles of the Republic. After briefly reviewing major tenets of the previous constitutions the article analyses the draft from the point of view of good governance and compares it with the currently existing constitution.