This week, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that if consensus can't be reached by March with Turkey's other major parties, his governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) would take its own constitutional draft directly to a referendum. This announcement has given his critics ammunition to claim that Turkey's new constitution would be an "AKP Constitution."
Turkey's current charter was prepared in 1982 under the auspices of a brutal military junta. Although subsequent civilian governments have introduced dozens of amendments, including some encouraged by the European Union, the illiberal sprit of the constitution has remained. Replacing it with a "civilian constitution" has long been the dream of Turkey’s liberals.
