BY ERGUN BABAHAN
SABAH- Speaking to Mustafa Balbay, a columnist from Cumhuriyet daily, Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal predicted that 2008 would be a `year of constitutional crisis.' Baykal said that efforts are being made to change the country's direction through constitutional changes. In addition, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek spoke of the difficulty of changing the Constitution, as if responding to Baykal in advance. Cicek compared the task to moving Mt. Ararat. This is exactly right, because the status quo is putting up a resistance. Actually they're protecting a Constitution which came from a coup, the product of an understanding that ignores the individual and considers the state the only power. Some people don't want to lose the power they enjoy under the current Constitution.
Some people also warn of lurking issues which Turkey might face due to constitutional changes, just hidden landmines. Actually, these mines could change Turkey's direction and stir up the public, just like last year's assassination of Hrant Dink or the recent attacks on priests. A booklet by the Open Society Institute outlines the European Union's impact on 100 issues in Turkey, from guaranteeing potable water, to banning factories which pollute the environment, to protecting consumer rights.
These issues determine and affect people's lives. In addition, laws on these issues are changing and may have to change more to be harmonized with the EU. If the decision had been left up to supporters of the status quo, the path would have been the same, because they are against Turkey's changes for EU membership. But Turkey is changing and developing, in spite of this opposition. This change cannot but be reflected in the legal structure, because the public has seen its power as separate individuals for the first time. It almost elected its own president directly.
It's inevitable that people who think they have such power will expect things like better services from the state, a more modern legal structure, and more respect. Our Constitution has certain provisions which are alterable, such as secularism, the principle of the social state, and the country's unitary character and language. It would be more correct to see 2008 not as a year of crisis, but one of a modern, democratic constitution. Of course, without taking our eyes off the hidden landmines.