A Study Of The Constitutional Amendment Of The Turkish AKP's Government

Turkey is the most democratized islamic country in the Middle East,and its current political framework is based on the 1982 constitution.The Constitution of 1982 was formulated and promulgated by the military out of the need of consolidating political order and realizing political stability after the military coup d 'at in 1980.Therefore,It has the tendency to restrict the political space of political parties and the civil rights and freedoms,and presents the remarkable characteristics of military guardianship.With the acceleration of the globalization process and the progress of the Turkish democratization process,the 1982 Constitutional framework and its defending political order gradually became unsuitable for the political development of Turkey.Therefore,the revision of the1982 Constitution and even the promulgation of a new Constitution became an inevitable requirement.Since 1987,the Turkish Constitution has undergone more than a dozen revisions,and a series of Constitutional amendments led by the AK Party since it came to power have the most significant effect and the greatest impact on Turkey's political democratization process.This paper tries to conduct a comprehensive study on the constitutional amendment of the Justice and Development Party Government and reveals the relationship between the constitutional renewal and the democratization process in Turkey.It is divided into three parts,as follows:The first part is the introduction,which mainly describes the main basis of the thesis topic,research status at home and abroad,theoretical and practical significance and research methods and innovation.The second part is the body part,which is divided into three chapters.The first chapter mainly analyzes Turkey's emulation of the "constitutional" tradition of Western countries,the limitations of the 1982 Constitution,and the constitutional efforts of the Justice and Development Party before its administration.The Republic of Turkey has promulgated the 1924 Constitution,the 1961 Constitution and the 1982 Constitution to meet the needs of the founding of the country and the Times;The 1982 Constitution focused on strengthening the power of the president and restricting the freedom of rights of political parties and citizens.It was widely opposed because of its obvious“guardianship” of the military.Between 1987 and 2002,successive Turkish governmentsintroduced a series of constitutional amendments.Resolving the constitutional restrictions on party leaders,civil rights,and judicial institutions,but still has not broken through the "guardian" framework of the 1982 Constitution.The second chapter mainly discusses the constitutional revision process since AKP came into power.After the Justice and Development Party came to power,it first promoted the 2002 constitutional amendment to lift Erdogan's political participation restrictions;More than ten constitutional amendments between 2003 and 2006 were designed to meet the criteria for membership,mainly focusing on gender equality,freedom of minority rights and weakening military status;From 2007 to 2017,the constitutional amendment focused on the themes of citizens' rights,state institutions,the status of the military,political party model and political system,and put the amendment into practice through a comprehensive referendum,which was accompanied by efforts and practices in preparing a new constitution.The third chapter mainly discusses the influence of the Constitutional amendment of the AKP's government.As the product of political game and power balance,the revision and renewal of constitution have far-reaching influence on political and social reform.The AK Party promoted the transformation of the country's political system and the rise of civil rights status through a series of constitutional amendments during its governance: Turkey has transformed from a parliamentary state to a presidential state,from parliamentary election to presidential election,restricting the power of the constitutional court,promoting the reform of the judiciary,rejecting the political status of the national elite,promoting the status of ethnic minorities and religious minorities,and expanding the basic rights and freedoms of citizens.Driven by the EU standards and the domestic people's demand for "anti-guardianship system",the AK Party in the process of constitutional amendment weakened the guardianship function of the military through measures such as the reform of the National security council,the Supreme Court and the Supreme Judge and Prosecutor Committee,and government institutions,and promoted the great progress of Turkish democratization.With the help of the constitutional amendment,the AK Party further strengthens its governing foundation,achieves high concentration of power through electoral hegemony,and strengthens its control over the opposition and the military,thus forming a paradox between democracy and authoritarianism.The third part is the conclusion part.It points out that the constitutional revision practice of the Justice and Development Party is based on the "continuation reform" of Turkey's historical tradition,rather than the "fracture reform".It is the logical result of the long-term game between Turkish secularism and Islamism.It is the renewal of democracy and pluralism that the Turkish constitutional system adapts to the needs of the times in the context of globalization.It embodies the convergence of popular politics and elite politics since the party took office in justice and development.However,it reflects the convergence trend of popular politics and elite politics since the ak party came to power,but it is the future development direction of the AKP's government to continue to amend the Constitution and even introduce a New Constitution.