Ruling AK Party gives opposition MHP draft charter

ANKARA

The leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) confirmed Tuesday that he has received a new draft constitution from ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party officials.

Devlet Bahceli, speaking at his party group meeting, said they would now work on the items of the draft constitution, first within the party and later in an inter-party commission.

The aim is to submit the agreed items to parliament’s general assembly "as soon as possible," he said.

The need for a new constitution has been much discussed of late, including the long-debated presidential system.

The government has been seeking to replace the current parliamentary system with a presidential one, saying there are flaws in the system that hold back Turkey’s development.

A committee was assigned within the AK Party to work on a draft constitution while party officials repeatedly called on MHP and the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) to support efforts for a new constitution.

The MHP leader reiterated his support Tuesday and called his previous meetings with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on the issue quite "fruitful".

Bahceli also praised recent remarks by CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu saying their "door is always open to exchange views" on the issue.

"That is a good approach," Bahceli said. "The CHP should not play hard or hold back."

Calling on the CHP to work “hand in hand” on the new constitution, Bahceli said:

"Let's free Turkey from its shackles. Let's overcome the obstacles one by one to focus on the main agenda of this nation.

"Turkish politics has to find solutions to the main problems of this country without conflicts."

The coming weeks will see a bill on the new constitution submitted to parliament after the parties' negotiations.

The proposed changes will later be put to a public referendum even if the government gets the necessary votes in parliament to avoid the need for one.

Expectations of Donald Trump

On last week’s surprising U.S. election results, the MHP leader voiced his expectations of President-elect Donald Trump.

"The first is support for our fight against the Fetullah Terrorist Organization [FETO], and to extradite the traitor in Pennsylvania without any preconditions."

Turkey accuses FETO – led by Fetullah Gulen, a resident of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania – of organizing the deadly July 15 defeated coup as well as a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

Turkey has repeatedly asked the U.S. to extradite Gulen, who has lived there in self-imposed exile since 1999.

Bahceli said his second expectation of Trump is to stop the U.S.’s "wrong relations" with the terrorist organization in the Middle East, presumably referring to the U.S. working with the PYD in Syria, an offshoot of the terrorist PKK.

Thirdly, he said, Trump is expected to contribute to the development of Turkish-U.S. bilateral relations.