Over the centuries,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

has had many

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

s and can be characterised by the steady establishment of a

nation-state A nation state, or nation-state, is a political entity in which the state (a centralized political organization ruling over a population within a territory) and the nation (a community based on a common identity) are (broadly or ideally) con ...

democratisation Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. Whether and to what ...

and recognition of

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

. Turkey has a rich constitutional history, dating from 1808 to the present. Over the years, Turkey has had many constitutions and radical amendments made to those constitutions. The four main constitutions of Turkey since inception have been the Constitution of 1921, the Constitution of 1924, the Constitution of 1961 and the Constitution of 1982. Prior to these constitutions, Turkey was governed by the Ottoman Empire and other fundamental instruments such as the Sened-I Ittifak, Imperial Edict of Reorganisation, the Ottoman Reform Edict, the Ottoman Constitution of 1876. The current 1982 Turkish constitution has been ratified nineteen times, with its most recent revision in 2017 which was aimed at improving the rights and liberties of individuals and strengthening the rule of law.

Fundamental instruments governing Turkey prior to 1921

* 1808: Charter of Alliance prepared by Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, in period of

Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...

was signed on September 29, among Rumelian and Anatolian chief men and the Ottoman State in order to make the central authority dominant over the provinces. This Charter of Alliance was signed to regulate the powers between the local rulers and the Ottoman government. * 1839: Edict of Gülhane prepared by Mustafa Reşid Pasha on November 3, during the rule of

Abdulmejid I ʻAbd al-Majīd (ALA-LC romanization of , ), also spelled as Abd ul Majid, Abd ul-Majid, Abd ol Majid, Abd ol-Majid, and Abdolmajid, is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Maj ...

. This document was a proclamation by

which reorganised the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and introduced various reforms. * 1856: Ottoman Reform Edict of 1856 that complemented and reinforced the Imperial Edict of Reorganisation. It promised equality of access to education, government appointments, military service, and administration of justice to all, regardless of religion, language, or race. * 1876: Constitution of the Ottoman Empire enacted during the

First Constitutional Era The First Constitutional Era (; ) of the Ottoman Empire was the period of constitutional monarchy from the promulgation of the Ottoman constitution of 1876 (, , meaning ' Basic Law' or 'Fundamental Law' in Ottoman Turkish), written by members ...

(1876–78) and was viewed as a symbol of freedom for its Turkish citizens. Subsequently, the constitution was revised in 1909 during the

Second Constitutional Era The Second Constitutional Era (; ) was the period of restored parliamentary rule in the Ottoman Empire between the 1908 Young Turk Revolution and the 1920 retraction of the constitution, after the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies, during the ...

of the Ottoman Empire (1908–20).

The Constitution of 1921

The Turkish Constitution of 1921 was a fundamental law for Turkey from 1921 to 1924. It is generally accepted that the Constitution was the result of the most democratic constitution-making process in Turkish history. It was crafted by an elected constituent assembly in which different groups and ideologies were not only present, but also actively participated. The draft constitution was prepared by the council of ministers in the form of a

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

proposal, and sent to the general assembly. The general assembly debated legal and procedural problems related to the proposal, and decided to send it to an ad hoc special commission as a document comprising 31 articles. The commission that worked on the draft divided it into two parts: the "program of

populism Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...

" and "the Basic Establishment Act (1921 Constitution)". The program of populism was a declaration of political purposes and views rather than being normative. Therefore, it was separated from the constitutional rules and declared as a government program reflecting

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influenc ...

and

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism ...

, left populist ideas, as well as civil control over the military. The latter part became the actual constitution and made the revolutionary choice of unconditional sovereignty of the nation, marking a significant break with the imperial and monarchical past. The 1921 constitution was very short. It contained 23 articles and an individual article, which addressed issues of power, local governments and their jurisdiction. The Constitution was created after the collapse of the

in the aftermath of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

, who then became Turkey's first

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

was a key driver in preparing this Constitution. Mustafa Kemal announced the election of a new assembly to meet in Turkey's capital,

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. This was named the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

and held both the executive and legislative powers. Article 3 of the Constitution stated that ''" e State of Turkey is governed by the Grand National Assembly and its government is titled as the Government of Grand National Assembly''." This Assembly could change ministers at will and the Council Ministers had no power to dissolve the Assembly. This was due to both the executive and legislative powers being vested in the Assembly. Nevertheless, this Assembly enacted the 1921 Constitution, which had a profound place in Turkey's constitutional history. It was the first constitution which declared Turkey a secular republic and moved away from the

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. C ...

system established by the

. The Constitution took

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

away from the Sultan and gave this right to the public. In Article 1 of the Constitution, it proclaimed the principle of national sovereignty and stated that "''sovereignty asvested upon the nation without condition.''"

The Constitution of 1924

The Turkish Constitution of 1924 was the longest constitution, remaining in force for 36 years from 1924 to 1961. The Assembly was renewed in the middle of 1923 and decided to create a new constitution, which was adopted by a majority of the Assembly on 20 April 1924. Initially, it was titled the "Constitution of the Republic of Turkey" and is often referred to as the first

Constitution of Turkey The Constitution of Turkey, formally known as the Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye (), and informally as the Constitution of 1982 (), is Turkey's fundamental law. It establishes the organization of the government, and sets out the pr ...

. This Constitution was codified similarly to the 1921 Constitution and retained the fundamental principles found in the earlier Constitution; however, it was much more detailed and consisted 105 articles. The principle of national

remained. Similar to the 1921 Constitution, the Turkish Grand National Assembly was considered to be the "sole representative of the nation". According to 1924 Constitution both the

and executive powers were embodied in the Assembly. However, the 1924 Constitution approached to a "parliamentary democracy" by giving the Assembly the power to supervise and dismiss the government although the government and the president did not have the power to dissolve the Assembly. Nevertheless,

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

power was completely independent. That is why the 1924 constitution was characterised as a step towards a

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their Election, democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of t ...

and

separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...

. This Constitution also embodied subjects such as fundamental rights and freedoms. As to the relevant articles, everyone was equal before the law, torture and cruel or unusual punishment were forbidden, personal freedom, freedom of conscience and religion, as well as freedom of thought and expression were guaranteed in addition to all civilian and political rights and freedoms. However, one problematic aspect of 1924 Constitution was the presence of an article stating that the "''official religion of the state asIslam''", an idea against secularism and one which was not present in the 1921 Constitution. This Constitution was amended seven times in total, two of which can be considered modal amendments. The most important amendments were that in 1928, the article stating the "''religion of the state as Islam''" was removed and

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

was introduced. In addition, in the 1934 amendment, women's rights to

vote Voting is the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representative ...

and be elected to

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

was also recognised. In 1937, the values of

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology that encompasses a range of ideas from civic virtue, political participation, harms of corruption, positives of mixed constitution, rule of law, and others. Historically, it emphasizes the idea of self ...

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

statism In political science, statism or etatism (from French, ''état'' 'state') is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation ...

and

reformism Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

were also embodied in the constitution. The 1924 constitution was maintained without change after the transition to a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional ...

in 1946 however, it came to an end in May 1960 after a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

takeover. The revolutionary officers, with the help of opposition parties, started to prepare a new constitution to establish a "more pluralistic mode of democracy", with all its attendant safeguards, while maintaining the modern and

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

nature of the state.

The Constitution of 1961

The Turkish Constitution of 1961 was enacted after Turkey' first military coup in May 1960. When the militants took charge, they dissolved the Assembly, imprisoned the President ( Celal Bayar at the time), Prime Minister (

Adnan Menderes Ali Adnan Ertekin Menderes (; 1899 – 17 September 1961) was a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister of Turkey between 1950 and 1960. He was one of the founders of the Democrat Party (DP) in 1946, the fourth legal opposition party of ...

, who was later hanged) and all the members of the Assembly. The Constitution of 1961 was adopted by a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

in May 1961, with 61.7% of the nation voting in its favour. It was composed of 157 main articles and 11 temporary articles. This constitution introduced a modified system of checks, establishing a bicameral system consisting of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. In doing so, it limited the authority of the government; the powers of the president were curtailed, and individual rights and liberties were given greater emphasis. The Constitution focused on issues such as fundamental rights and freedoms, working life, the right to form a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, the right to

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and labour rights, rights for ...

and strike,

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

and communication, political rights. It also contained a long

bill of rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

and limited the powers of the executive. The 1961 constitution was distinct from the previous 1924 constitution because of the relative importance it placed on the notion of democracy which shifted from majority to pluralism. In addition, it sought to expand and strengthen basic

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

. This constitution was also the first time Turkey adopted constitutional review and established the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

. Hence, this constitution has been regarded as the most liberal constitution in Turkish history. Nevertheless, although, the main objective of the militant leaders was to restore the democratic process, they also wished to protect their own interests. Thus, the constitution was drafted in such a way, so as to provide concessions to those in power. This constitution was amended seven times. The first amendment was made in November 1969 and the last one in April 1974. However, due to political instability and growing tension between

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

and left wing groups, there was military intervention in September 1980, which saw the introduction of the 1982 constitution.

The Constitution of 1982

Current

is the product of a successful military coup on 12 September 1980. After this intervention, on 9 November 1982, the military regime (the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

, (NSC) regime) enacted the constitution presently in force. From inception, the NSC expressed its intent on restoring democracy and restructuring Turkey's democratic system. Hence, when drafting this constitution, it abolished the bicameral system and reintroduced the unicameral system. It also strengthened the power of the executive and asserted that Turkey was a

and democratic

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

, deriving its

from its people. The primary aim of the constitution was to restore the state's authority and therefore protect it from the actions of its citizens, rather than protecting the individual liberties from the encroachments of the state. This was supported by the preamble which stated that "''no protection shall be afforded to thoughts or opinions contrary to Turkish national interest.''" Thus, in comparison to the 1961 constitution, the present 1982 constitution was more casuistic or specific in details. It was also more difficult to change, was more transitional and shifted the balance between authority and freedom towards the former. In doing so, it strengthened the power of the executive branch of government, avoided deadlocks in the political decision-making mechanism and was less lenient towards

participatory democracy Participatory democracy, participant democracy, participative democracy, or semi-direct democracy is a form of government in which Citizenship, citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies that affect their ...

. Like its predecessor, the 1982 constitution includes a detailed

covering the social, economic, and political rights and liberties of citizens. According to Article 5, all individuals are equal before the law and possess "''inherent fundamental rights and freedoms which are inviolable and inalienable.''" However, articles 10 through to 15 authorise the government to restrict individual rights in the interest of safeguarding the "''integrity of the state''" and "''the public interest''." Thus, in sum, the 1982 constitution was designed to support a strong

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...

and limited political freedom envisaged in Turkey's previous constitutions. This constitution has been amended nineteen times. Three of these amendments, which occurred in 2007, 2010 and 2017 were a result of a successful

. The most recent amendments occurred in after the 2017 referendum. The general direction of these amendments was to improve the rights and liberties afforded to individuals, strengthen the rule of law and limit the prerogative powers granted to the military.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Constitutional History Of Turkey Constitutions of Turkey Legal history of Turkey