The constitutional system of Turkey

While providing an analysis of Ottoman-Turkish constitutional developments since the first constitution of 1876, this book focuses on the present constitutional system of Turkey based on the Constitution of 1982. This Constitution, a product of the military regime of 1980-1983, strongly reflects the authoritarian, statist and tutelary mentality of its military founders, as well as their deep distrust for civilian politics. Even after sixteen liberalizing amendments since 1987, it has not been possible to completely liquidate this illiberal spirit, hence Turkey's need for a totally new, liberal, and fully democratic constitution. The author analyzes in detail the search for such a constitution and the current constitutional debates.