Move FM Global News

ANKARA, Turkey: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week that he has appointed a group of legal experts to begin drafting a new Constitution, a move critics believe could help him stay in power beyond 2028 when his current term is set to end.

Erdogan has been president since 2014 and was prime minister for over 10 years before that. He argues that the current constitution, written after a military coup in 1980, is outdated and still influenced by the military, even after several changes.

“Yesterday, I appointed 10 legal experts to start their work,” Erdogan said in a speech to members of his ruling party. “For 23 years, we have shown our desire for a new civilian and democratic constitution.”

Under current rules, Erdogan cannot run again unless early elections are called or the constitution is changed. Critics believe the push for a new Constitution is a way to change the rules and allow him to run again.

Erdogan has become more authoritarian over the years but denies that he wants a new Constitution to stay in power. “We want the new Constitution not for ourselves, but for our country,” he said last week.

Erdogan’s party and its nationalist allies do not have enough seats in parliament to pass a new constitution on their own. Some experts think the government’s recent talks to end the long conflict with the Kurdish militant group PKK are aimed at gaining the support of a pro-Kurdish party in parliament.

This effort comes shortly after Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and Erdogan’s primary rival, was arrested on corruption charges. Many people believe the arrest was politically motivated, although the government says the courts are independent. The arrest led to large protests demanding Imamoglu’s release and criticizing the decline of democracy under Erdogan.