Some contemporary constitutional problems in Turkey

Abstract

As is well known to those familiar with the recent political history of Turkey, the Constitution of 1961 was the outcome of a military coup that ousted the Democratic Party government in May 1960. The military intervention, which was carried through in a bloodless coup, ended in the arrest of the President of Republic, the Prime Minister and over 400 leading members of the Democratic Party, as well as the dissolution of the Grand National Assembly (parliament). Thus, a political party which had come to power through, perhaps, the first free elections in Turkey in 1950 was swept from power. It should be mentioned, however, that in the ten-year period during which they had been in power the Democrats gave ample proof of their tendencies to abuse their powers. In May 1960 they were giving every indication of preparing to deal a final blow to the opposition and setting up a virtual single-party rule. The 27 May 1960 Coup, which was officially referred to as the Revolution of May 27 had, in fact, certain characteristics that distinguished it from a simple coup d'etat. In addition to the usual aims declared in any military intervention, such as the prevention of bloodshed and fratricide, the military junta which took over on 27 May 1960 declared that it would lead the way in the preparation of a new and democratic Constitution under which a real multi-party regime would function. As the weak spots in the 1924 Constitution had become painfully evident, especially during the last years of the Democratic Party government, the idea of a new Constitution with better defined spheres of authority and with more 'teeth in it' was generally accepted.1 One of the most interesting aspects of the May 27 Coup is its legalistic tendency. Beginning in the very early hours of the military operations, the National Union Committee (i.e. the military junta) sought the support and approval of lawyers in general and the professors of law in particular. Seven distinguished professors of law from the University of Istanbul were invited by the leaders of the Coup in rthe early hours of 27 May 1960 to prepare a draft Constitution and to declare that the action was legitimate.2 Among the professors invited were the President (Rector) of the University of Istanbul and the Dean of the Faculty of Law of the same University. Later these seven professors from Istanbul were joined by three professors from Ankara University and thus a special Commission to prepare the draft of a new Constitution was created. In January 1961 the Constituent Assembly was convened to give the draft prepared by the Commission of Professors its final form.3 One of the reasons for creating the Constituent Assembly may have been a later developed belief that the political nature of a new Constitution rendered the task of creating it too serious to be left only to professors. It should be noted, however, that the members of the Constituent Assembly were not chosen in general elections. This may be regarded as an Assembly of a corporative nature, having members elected by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Workers' Unions, Bar Associations, Universities, Teachers' Organizations, High Courts, etc. In order to compensate for the fact that the Constituent Assembly was not