ANKARA -- Turkey’s ruling party has raised the stakes of the upcoming election with just a week to go until the polls, calling for a two-thirds majority in Parliament to swiftly renew the country’s charter.

In an interview late Sunday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruled out a potential constitutional referendum if his party wins at least 367 seats in the June 12 election.
“The first step we will take (after the elections) is on the new constitution. But this issue is related with the parliamentary arithmetic. In the case the parliamentary arithmetic does not allow so, we would work with the new (parliamentary) composition,” Erdogan told Kanal D.
The prime minister earlier said he would not push for a referendum if the new charter were to be approved by more than 367 deputies, a stance that differs from his party fellows.
Deputy prime ministers Bulent Arinç and Cemil Çiçek have both said they would seek popular support for a new constitution even if a two-thirds majority of Parliament approves the new text.
Speaking to TGRT late Saturday, Erdogan said the new constitution would only be taken to a referendum if his ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, does not receive 367 seats in Parliament. “If we do, it would be unnecessary to hold a referendum, since we would have been brought to that position by the people, and a referendum would mean that we don’t trust ourselves,” the prime minister said.
Erdogan subsequently issued assurances that the new charter would be made with the inclusion of all political parties as well as nongovernmental organizations.
A constitutional amendment requires at least 367 votes. If the number of supporters is between 330 and 367, the amendment is automatically taken to a referendum. In an interview a month ago, Erdogan said he was expecting to receive between 315 and 335 seats in Parliament, which would mean the AKP would need the backing of other parties to even take constitutional amendments to a referendum.
Erdogan’s comments in the final week before the elections are being seen by many as a way to attract more voters with his main project of renewing the charter. Even though it is unlikely any party will get a two-thirds majority in Parliament, observers said, both Erdogan and the opposition parties will continue pushing toward this goal.
“We will be the winner of this election, God willing. I do not know whether our people will give us the authority to renew the Constitution. If they give, it will be a lot easier to amend the Constitution,” Erdogan said in another televised interview over the weekend.
“However, I do not say that we’ll do it on our own,” he added. “We have always said that we will make the collective mind work.”
The prime minister noted that the Turkish Industry and Business Association, or TÜS?AD, the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation, or TESEV, the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges, or TOBB, and some other NGOs have worked on a new constitution and drafted some blueprints. Erdogan said his party’s objective was “to work with all political parties represented at Parliament and to include all civil-society organizations in this process.”
Though all political parties agree on the need to renew the junta-made Constitution written following the 1980 military coup, they have not been able to agree to terms or methodology. A new charter would help Turkey speed up its negotiation track with the European Union.
Second priority is Kurdish question
Erdogan said another crucial issue to be dealt with immediately after the elections is to continue with his party’s nearly two-year-old opening toward the country’s Kurds. “We have never ended our opening process. It will continue. But we have to see a more constructive counterpart,” he said, in an apparent reference to the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP.
The prime minister was also asked about his vocal warnings toward journalists, specifically Nuray Mert, a columnist for daily Milliyet, who Erdogan said would “pay the price” for a column she wrote.
“Freedom of thought has its limits too,” Erdogan said.
“Mert wrote about roads we constructed in Dersim, stating that they were a part of the route of the security forces. This is not freedom of speech. Those roads were for citizens,” he said. “If she writes that they were for security forces, she will be faced with the consequences. Plus, I never said that she would pay the price.”
(Source: Hurriyet Daily News)
Photo: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ruled out a potential constitutional referendum if his party wins at least 367 seats in the June 12 election.
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