Time for a new 'civilian constitution'? Turkey's ruling AKP says so

Efkan Ala, deputy chairman of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), told The New Arab that the party, which marks 25 years since its founding on 14 August, is preparing for the next elections, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its candidate.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Justice and Development Party, The New Arab interviewed the second-in-command of Turkey's ruling party, discussing the party's trajectory, the challenges it has faced, its future and its position on the most important events that have taken place and are taking place.

Efkan Ala stressed that the Justice and Development Party had worked to resolve the country's problems through democracy, including electing the president by the people, for which constitutional amendments were introduced and the issue was resolved.

In the next phase, the party has set the goal of making Turkey one of the world's 10 most developed and advanced countries.

He revealed that preparations are still underway to amend the constitution, while explaining that Turkey's "terrorism-free" process is continuing and that the issue of non-Turkish elements will be resolved through diplomacy with neighbouring countries, particularly Syria and Iraq.

He explained that Turkey supports the two-state solution in Palestine, warning that the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu's government leave it without a future.

The following is an edited version of that interview:

The Justice and Development Party marks 25 years since its founding. What challenges did it face, and how did it overcome them?

The Justice and Development Party was founded 25 years ago, when the atmosphere in Turkey at the time was affected by the events of 28 February 1997. The Turkish National Security Council held a meeting that led to decisions resulting in the removal of former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, leader of the Welfare Party, and the end of his coalition government.

The economy was facing major difficulties, a severe economic crisis and political instability, and the party was founded amid all these challenges.

There is no doubt that the events of 28 February 1997, dealt a severe blow to freedom of belief. The atmosphere was suffocating, and freedoms were restricted, particularly freedom of belief.

Amid these circumstances, the Justice and Development Party was founded. The party founder, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on 14 August, 2001: "From now on, everything will not be as it was in Turkey."

Since then, as a party in power for 24 years, we have achieved a great deal across various fields and brought about real revolutions. We did all this for our people.

The Justice and Development Party put every problem it faced on the political arena before the people and resolved it through the ballot box.

We are a movement that has held 19 elections and referendums during our 24 years in power.

For example, presidential elections had always been a problem in Turkey before the Justice and Development Party. There were always difficulties that led to political crises.

We also witnessed the 360 crisis during our period in power, referring to the 2007 presidential election in Parliament, when problems emerged, but we resolved them.

We did not stop there. We amended the constitution and put the change before our people and said: Since presidential elections have always been a problem, let us give them to their rightful owner.

Who is their rightful owner? The people.

We said: Let the people elect the president directly.

Have the goals for the second quarter-century of the party's life or its vision been determined?

In the second century of the Turkish Republic, we set our main goal as becoming one of the 10 most developed and advanced countries in the world.

To achieve this, we shared the vision of the Turkish Century with our people, and from now on we will begin the second wave of reforms that are necessary.

With the first wave of reforms that we implemented over 25 years, we in fact demonstrated achievements and hard work spanning an entire century in Turkey.

With the reforms we will undertake in the future, we are laying the foundations and core principles for Turkey in the coming century.

Therefore, as our president said, a more just world is possible, and we believe that the world is bigger than five because the world needs these policies.

During our 25 years in power, while confronting many problems, we also succeeded in unifying Turkey and giving it all the opportunities available.

We implemented highly important infrastructure projects.

In foreign policy, Turkey previously adopted a more passive approach, but during our period in power and under the effective leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey became a regional power and a global actor.

Nevertheless, without ever overlooking the principles I mentioned at the beginning, we opposed all forms of injustice and declared this to the world through our foreign policy.

We have always been a country that denounces the genocide in Gaza and crimes against humanity elsewhere in the world, even from the platform of the United Nations.

If there is anything positive that needs to be built, we have worked hard to take the initiative in doing so.

That is why we pursue an active foreign policy that is just, fair and virtuous.

We continue our path by supporting this foreign policy through developing our defence industry, as well as other economic, social and political fields, and providing the necessary opportunities and means.

When talking about the future, there are upcoming presidential and general elections. In this context, what preparations is the Justice and Development Party making?

We have a distinctive approach, and this is a political method that our president taught us.

Elections are held, and the people choose us to come to power, but the very next day we begin working as if no election had taken place, as if there were another election the following day.

We begin preparing for the next election from the day after the election, which concerns the entire people.

We turn to them, go into the field, meet our people, and have representatives in every neighbourhood, village, city and province.

We hold monthly programmes to meet our people, explain our vision and listen to their demands.

We discuss their demands in our relevant institutions.

In our party and government committees, we conduct research and public opinion polls, and we do this every month.

We assess matters. The people's priority is our priority, the people's wishes are our wishes, and the will of our people is our will.

Everything our people oppose, we oppose, and everything our people support, we support.

What are the current public opinion trends regarding the party? What do the polls show?

Public opinion is very positive.

In the public opinion polls we are currently conducting, our president is clearly in the lead.

This is because our people are closely following what is happening in the world and our region.

Here, our president's initiatives, which are just, humanitarian and accepted by people's consciences, have broad public support, and our people continue to maintain their strong support for our president.

When problems emerge elsewhere, such as the Russian-Ukrainian war, our president demonstrates a high level of leadership experience and is able to take the most effective initiatives to save the world from problems arising from the grain crisis.

Within the party itself, there is cohesion, and the country is witnessing cohesion and progress.

Of course, there are problems, but there is a government that resolves problems through democracy.

There is a president who does not surrender his will or the will of the nation in the face of any threat.

Therefore, the situation of the opposition in Turkey is also difficult, as it suffers from serious internal problems.

Accordingly, what will lead the Justice and Development Party to achieve its goals is its ability to renew itself internally and maintain its unity, a leader who has demonstrated his position and will, and a people who trust him.

We are continuing on our path and hope that the research will show this clearly.

Do you have any statistics? Can you give some figures?

Well, first and foremost, we are 10 points ahead even of our closest competitors, so I can say that today, of course, we will continue with the People's Alliance.

Looking at it this way, our president can easily exceed 50% in the presidential elections.

Likewise, when looking at the Justice and Development Party within the alliance, the percentage is much higher, because our people see that the other parties are incapable of solving their internal problems.

A party that cannot solve its internal problems cannot in any way solve Turkey's problems.

It cannot connect Turkey's opportunities with the people.

Therefore, the Justice and Development Party and our president enjoy very strong popular support.

Justice and Development Party spokesman Omer Celik previously announced that the party's presidential candidate in the next elections is Erdogan. But how will the constitutional obstacles be overcome?

When our parliament decides to hold elections, this is clear and explicit in the constitution.

There are no obstacles.

The matter depends on a decision by parliament, and when parliament decides, Erdogan is the candidate of the alliance and the Justice and Development Party, and, God willing, the people will support him.

No one can oppose what the people want.

Therefore, through a decision by our parliament and the nomination of our president, he will have the opportunity to serve Turkey in the best possible way during the next term.

After the 2023 elections, there was a focus on a new constitution, but this issue is no longer on the agenda as it was previously. Is a new constitution or constitutional amendments on the agenda?

Turkey has witnessed constitutional debates since the constitution was adopted in 1982.

Because it is a constitution dating back to the coup era, many amendments have been introduced since then.

However, every amendment requires further amendments.

We have therefore also made many changes.

But the constitution should be viewed as a whole, in terms of its spirit, its drafting methodology and its understanding of the principle of consensus.

We have a committee formed by our president dealing with the constitution, and I am a member of it.

We have completed our work and are currently conducting several assessments.

We will then conduct studies to assess them with the relevant parties.

We will meet civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations to assess them.

Our desire to unite Turkey through a new constitution has remained alive from the beginning, and we still believe in it.

We believe that the time has come for Turkey to adopt a civilian constitution.

For this reason, we have completed our work from our perspective.

We have concluded, but discussions and assessments with other parties and non-governmental organisations will certainly reveal the issues on which we agree and those on which we disagree.

The aim is to draft a constitution through consensus and with the participation of all segments of society, and, if possible, with the participation of all political parties, which would ensure political consensus.

If this is achieved, the constitution will have a longer lifespan.

Then, with the support of the people, Turkey will have achieved the constitutional amendments it aspires to.

Therefore, we want a more robust constitution that guarantees rights and freedoms, including freedom of work, thought and belief; a constitution that builds an effective state, strengthens predictability, prioritises transparency and enables the participation of all segments of society.

Most importantly, the constitution must be drafted through civilian consensus, and the importance of following the same civilian procedures in this process is clear.

Therefore, our programme for drafting a new constitution is continuing.

Will the constitution be amended before the elections, or will it remain unchanged until after them?

Of course, we will continue this process, but because it concerns many parties, parliamentarians and civil society organisations, we want to complete it as soon as possible.

Nevertheless, the timing, timeframe and duration will be determined based on consensus and negotiations.

What is the timetable for the next stage of Turkey's terrorism-free process, and what mechanism will you follow?

Turkey has been fighting terrorism since the 1980s.

Terrorism is a major problem for all humanity. We want to completely eliminate terrorism in our region.

We say a terrorism-free Turkey and a terrorism-free region.

In other words, there should be no terrorism in the Middle East or anywhere else, because its costs are enormous, it has a huge capacity to cause harm, and there is no hope of victory.

Therefore, Turkey has brought the situation to this stage.

With broad participation and support from all sides, we submitted the bill to parliament and established specific mechanisms in it to eliminate the terrorist organisation and hand over weapons.

We are assigning tasks to state institutions under the law, and we will work with society to manage the dialogue transparently.

We have established these mechanisms, selected them and defined them in the law, and we will complete them soon, freeing Turkey from these constraints and implementing policies that will enable Turkey to move forward confidently towards its long-term goals.

We are working hard to do everything we can through an active foreign policy to end the suffering in our region, in Syria, Iraq and the Middle East, and to establish terrorism-free areas in those regions.

Are you concerned about external interference or the possibility of international actors intervening and sabotaging this process?

The possibility of provocation always exists, and this is what happens in the Middle East.

Even coincidences are orchestrated.

Therefore, we have to act with great caution while being aware of this.

That is why we pursue a firm foreign policy to resolve these issues peacefully and decisively and implement these policies by taking measures to thwart the plans and schemes of these powers.

Within the legal framework, details have been set out regarding the fate of Turkish citizens belonging to banned organisations. Is any work underway regarding non-Turkish nationals?

Some of our foreign policy issues can be resolved within the Turkish legal system, while others are resolved through international negotiations.

Turkey has sufficient experience in these matters, has an active foreign policy, maintains good relations with its neighbours, and pursues a high-quality and effective foreign policy.

I believe these issues will be resolved through cooperation with the Syrian and Iraqi governments, as well as regional and central governments, in a way that benefits the countries and peoples of the region.

I am certain of this as long as we maintain our active position.

The Israeli government recently issued statements against Turkey, and Erdogan was also targeted. What is Israel's aim with these provocations?

Israel issues these statements, but it receives a strong response from Turkey.

Since its establishment, it has pursued a policy based first on destabilising areas outside its borders, then occupying those areas and then attempting to annex them.

This is happening before the eyes and ears of the entire world.

It has committed a crime against humanity in Gaza, a horrific genocide.

Once again, our president was the one who strongly protested against this, and we have always stood on the side of justice and stood with Gaza.

Our policy is completely clear regarding the two-state solution.

We know that without recognising a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, it is impossible to build lasting peace in the region with Israel.

We have always supported this solution and will continue to support it.

The policy pursued by Netanyahu's government today has no future and benefits no one.

While they bury the people of Gaza, they are also burying their own future.

It has never been known for a state to prosper through an unjust foreign policy, an unjust system or repression.

Therefore, we believe that the two-state solution is the only solution, the just solution in the region and the region, and we are working hard to achieve it.

Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here.