Turkish Constitutionalism in Millî Mücadele

Abstract

Abstract The Teşkilât-ı Esasiye Kānūnu of 1921 is an interesting snapshot of the state-building process of the Turkish State during the Millî Mücadele. In this transitional period, the Ankara Meclis puts in the Chart all the expectations for the new State, drawing a system strongly based on Parliamentarism. While denying the Imperial authority, it voluntarily defers the definition of the form of the State, paving the way to a new idea of sovereignty. The fundamental Chart constitutes the instrument the Meclis uses to inject new fundamental concepts in the Turkish legal system, while overcoming the concept of osmanlıcılık. A courageous attempt to introduce in Turkey some of the most advanced ideas of public law at that time, it represents the evolution and the end of the second Constitutional Era. This work aims to demonstrate how this Chart and the following reforms represent the base of much of what Turkey was for almost a century.