Turkey faces obstacles in changing its constitution

Liam Hardy, The Daily Star

The Turkish foreign minister and the chief negotiator for the European Union, Ali Babacan, speaking at a NATO foreign ministers meeting recently, mentioned that the Turkish Constitution as it stands now will not help Turkey move forward with its reform agenda.

This resonates with a statement made last September by the EU's commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn, that constitutional reform would greatly accelerate Turkey's EU accession process and could "break the cycle" of political crises in the country. This includes last year's presidential election crisis and this year's Constitutional Court case to disband the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Although debate over changing the constitution has waned immensely over the past year, Babacan has rightly called attention to an issue that has important implications for Turkey. The current constitution, which was implemented under Turkish military rule in 1982, has caused some serious headaches. Many elements within Turkey argue that the current constitution limits basic rights and freedoms, including the freedom of speech, religious expression and association. read more