Amid a deepening crisis with the powerful military, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is planning constitutional reforms to stop party closure and limit judiciary powers.
“This will not be about completely revising the constitution,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
“But we are envisaging to amend certain articles," he said, referring to those on the closure of political parties by court rulings and the judiciary.
Erdogan said that the changes, to be ready by the end of March, were part of Turkey's efforts to conform with European democratic norms.
"We will proceed quickly in order to talk to the other political parties represented in parliament."
The ruling party does not have the parliamentary majority necessary to change the constitution on its own.
Turkey's current constitution was drawn up in the wake of a 1980 coup d'etat and has been widely contested since.
The constitution has already undergone serious changes, notably in 2001 and 2004, to allow Turkey to satisfy conditions for opening European Union accession talks.
Revising the constitution was one of the AKP's key objectives when it won a landslide victory in 2007.
But implementing changes to the constitution has since faltered because of fierce debate they sparked over Turkey's secular identity.
Changing the constitution to make it more difficult to dissolve political parties has caused a political storm. The AKP itself was almost banned in 2008 for alleged anti-secular activities.
Erdogan on Saturday proposed that parliament would have to give the go-ahead to any demand to ban a party coming from the courts.
Crisis
The planned reforms come amid a growing tension with the powerful military over an alleged plot to topple the government.
On Sunday, Erdogan held a meeting with the head of the armed forces, two days after two retired generals were charged over an alleged coup plot to topple the government.
The meeting came as 15 army soldiers were questioned over the 2003 plot, codenamed “Sledgehammer”.
The plot involved planting bombs in mosques and museums in Istanbul to stir chaos, according to documents obtained by Taraf newspaper.
It also included provoking Greek jets into shoot down a Turkish plane over the Aegean Sea in a bid to show the government as inept.
The unprecedented probe into the plot has rattled Turkey, raising fears of a showdown between the AKP and the army, the self-declared guardian of the country's secular system.
The Turkish army has traditionally wielded significant influence on politics, but has seen its clout wane under the AKP.
Since 1960, the army has toppled four governments on claims of defending the country's secularism.
“This will not be about completely revising the constitution,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
“But we are envisaging to amend certain articles," he said, referring to those on the closure of political parties by court rulings and the judiciary.
Erdogan said that the changes, to be ready by the end of March, were part of Turkey's efforts to conform with European democratic norms.
"We will proceed quickly in order to talk to the other political parties represented in parliament."
The ruling party does not have the parliamentary majority necessary to change the constitution on its own.
Turkey's current constitution was drawn up in the wake of a 1980 coup d'etat and has been widely contested since.
The constitution has already undergone serious changes, notably in 2001 and 2004, to allow Turkey to satisfy conditions for opening European Union accession talks.
Revising the constitution was one of the AKP's key objectives when it won a landslide victory in 2007.
But implementing changes to the constitution has since faltered because of fierce debate they sparked over Turkey's secular identity.
Changing the constitution to make it more difficult to dissolve political parties has caused a political storm. The AKP itself was almost banned in 2008 for alleged anti-secular activities.
Erdogan on Saturday proposed that parliament would have to give the go-ahead to any demand to ban a party coming from the courts.
Crisis
The planned reforms come amid a growing tension with the powerful military over an alleged plot to topple the government.
On Sunday, Erdogan held a meeting with the head of the armed forces, two days after two retired generals were charged over an alleged coup plot to topple the government.
The meeting came as 15 army soldiers were questioned over the 2003 plot, codenamed “Sledgehammer”.
The plot involved planting bombs in mosques and museums in Istanbul to stir chaos, according to documents obtained by Taraf newspaper.
It also included provoking Greek jets into shoot down a Turkish plane over the Aegean Sea in a bid to show the government as inept.
The unprecedented probe into the plot has rattled Turkey, raising fears of a showdown between the AKP and the army, the self-declared guardian of the country's secular system.
The Turkish army has traditionally wielded significant influence on politics, but has seen its clout wane under the AKP.
Since 1960, the army has toppled four governments on claims of defending the country's secularism.
