Prof. Dr. Şule Özsoy Boyunsuz said that the groups within the government want to secure their future

They are trying to change the constitution again, many parts of which they wrote 8 years ago. Therefore, they may include citizenship and official language clauses in the process. AKP, which is at 20 percent, cannot play with the founding codes and values ​​of the state. The foundation and identity created by the nation-state revolution cannot be abolished or changed by impositions.

Groups established within the state that plunder public resources are in competition. They want a transitional constitution in order to survive after Erdoğan. The plan may be to elect a single deputy along with the president, and if something happens to the president, the deputy will complete his term.

Prof. Dr. Şule Özsoy Boyunsuz answered Cumhuriyet's questions.

- Chief Advisor to the President Mehmet Uçum said, "It has become largely clear that the election will be held in March or April 2028." Instead of early elections, they are called "advanced elections". Is there such a term?

There is no such expression. Legally, the election is not a single-day voting process, but a 60-day process. According to law no. 2839; Voting takes place on the Sunday before the end of 5 years from the date of the previous election. The first day of the 60-day period calculated backwards from the voting day is the start date of the election. Legally, it is necessary to decide on the renewal of elections before the election begins (60-day period). If the two-month period has started, the election period begins, and the YSK has the authority to bring forward the voting day.

- There are comments that even the election held 1 week before the regular date is an early election. How is the legal election calendar and election day expected to work?

If the Grand National Assembly of Turkey decides to hold an early election, it must take this decision with a three-fifths majority, specifying the date before the regular election period begins and without conflicting with the regular calendar. Once the election calendar has started, the Turkish Grand National Assembly does not have the authority to postpone it early. In the election calendar, authority passes to the YSK. Early election is defined as the renewal of the election and is the election that is brought forward before the election calendar begins. Not a week.

- The regular date of the election is May 7. Accordingly, should the election calendar for President Erdoğan's re-election start before March 14?

Yes, we will count down 60 days. The calendar begins on March 8, 2028. In other words, the Turkish Grand National Assembly should both take the early election decision before that date and place it before that date. Otherwise, it would conflict with the regular election calendar.

'THEY ARE GOING AROUND THE LAW'

- In this case, there cannot be an early election on April 16, 2028, as has been stated many times, right?

Legally, the normal calendar remains within me. YSK can shorten the periods within the calendar and implement them. However, bringing forward the deadlines is done based on propaganda, in a way that does not hinder the right to vote and on a number of grounds, which does not constitute an early election anyway. For re-candidacy, the day before the normal calendar starts at the latest should be determined as the voting day by the decision of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Even though this is technically the case, pushing Erdoğan forward for a minimum period of time just to make him a candidate is actually circumventing the law. It is a misuse and misuse of constitutional rules.

- Every election we talk about President Erdoğan's candidacy...

They have violated and circumvented the Constitution before, and now they are trying to legitimize their own unlawfulness again. It was the YSK that caused the violation of the term limit in 2023, not counting the previous terms as part of the term of office. With the amendment made to the constitution in 2007, it was stated that "A person can be elected president twice at most, and his term of office is five years." This remained the same in 2017. We argued that the president was elected in 2014 and 2018 and completed his two terms. However, in the previous election, the YSK said, "Since the Presidential System of Government was adopted, this term of office should be considered with powers, this is a different kind of presidency" and did not take into account the period before the Presidential System of Government. According to this decision of the YSK, Erdoğan was elected in 2018 and will be in his second term of office with the elections in 2023. The exception to this is if the Turkish Grand National Assembly decides to renew the elections and gives office to the last president once again.

'THERE IS NO DEMOCRACY SO THERE CAN BE COMPETITION'

- Mehmet Uçum also gave a message to the opposition by saying, "They have been trying to defeat our president at the ballot box for 25 years. If you believe that you are better in democratic competition, if you think that he will win, you will not stop our president. Will the voters respect the party that avoids competing?" How do you evaluate this statement?

There is no democracy in Turkey, so there can be democratic competition. The President's most important rival is being held in prison with implausible secret witness statements. There is no freedom of press or association, a trustee was appointed to the management of the main opposition party CHP by a nullity decision, human rights are at the level of countries that are not free. Türkiye is governed by an authoritarian regime. In such a regime, it is unacceptable for the presidential advisor to say "Don't run away", they should tell themselves this. They are the ones who attack all their opponents through judgment. The term democracy does not suit these people.

'POWER IS IN THE HANDS OF THE VOTERS'

- If there are no democratic elections, what will people expect to go to the polls, how will the opposition find the strength to compete?

Even if competition is not democratic, there is a ballot box. Since the government cannot say that it will do something good, it tries to advance by convincing people that the opposition is worse than them. Despite everything, the opposition continues to exist. The opposition must be able to act in a united manner. Because the aim of the government is to divide, they are trying to get out of the way by dividing and minimizing. A 100 meter race will be run, the government will start from the 99th meter, the opposition must complete the 100 meters before they run one meter. Here we must think of the opposition as a group; if one falls, the other continues. No one can stop those who run towards a common goal. The power is in the hands of the voters, the power is in our hands. If we go to the polls and vote, no one can ignore it.

- In the discourses of the new constitution, it is persistently stated that the first four articles will be the basis of the new constitution and will be protected. What are the limits of the authority to change the Constitution?

The primary constituent power has the power to rewrite the constitution without adhering to the rules of the previous constitution. The main founding power belongs to the nation because sovereignty belongs to the nation. In order for the primary constituent power to be legitimate, we must see the consent and participation of the nation at every stage. Today, the Turkish Grand National Assembly is not the founding power, but the established power according to the current constitution. It has the authority to change the constitution by adhering to the first four articles and article 175 (convening and quorum). In this case, the Constitutional Court has the authority to control the compliance of the amendments with the first four articles. The fact that the ordinary legislative bodies also make a new constitution by using the authority of the constituent power is a situation that requires creating democratic political legitimacy in a field beyond the law.

'THE SPIRIT OF THE FIRST THREE ARTICLES CANNOT BE DESTROYED'

- With the start of the terrorism-free Türkiye process, articles 42 and 66, which regulate the language of education and the definition of citizenship, are constantly talked about. Can they take steps regarding these?

The subtlety here is; The first four articles remain, the fourth article that protects them is a natural protection shield, which is what the Constitutional Court (AYM) says. Other items must comply with the first three items. The Constitutional Court also supervises this. It is not possible to leave the first three items as they are and kill the spirit and essence of these three items inside. In other words, if the unitary state remains, institutions with political autonomy cannot be added to other articles, and if the official language is Turkish, another language or languages ​​cannot be added to other articles as the language of the state. The first three items cannot be left in shape and these first three items cannot be destroyed in other items. In a nation state, what binds people is not race but cultural unity. For this, a common language is very important. Of course, people can learn and teach their native language, but a common language is an absolute necessity.

'THEY ARE NOT MORE DEMOCRATIC THAN SEPTEMBER 12'

- We know that some parties are working on the constitution and even have drafts of it. Can such a text be put to a referendum without the Constituent Assembly?

It would not be legitimate for them to sit down and force the constitution they wrote on their own to the people through a referendum. This would be the government imposing its own view of the world and the state on society, which is what the AKP has done so far. The AKP government does not stand in a more democratic place than the September 12 regime. For democratic constitution-making, a free negotiation environment in which all political groups are represented and civil society participates is necessary. Public opinion is involved. We are in a regime of increasing repression and censorship. Televisions are being turned off.

'THE PROCESS HAS NOT BEEN SOCIALIZED'

On the other hand, they are now trying to change the constitution, many of which they wrote themselves 8 years ago. Due to the process they are carrying out with Öcalan, they may also include citizenship and official language issues. This process is not socialized. There is a lot of lack of trust. AKP, which is only around 20 percent according to surveys, cannot play with the basic founding codes and values ​​of the state. The foundation laid by the nation-state revolution is still there with the support of a large segment of society. This foundation and identity cannot be removed or changed by impositions. Attempting this type of thing would disrupt the inner peace. It is wrong.

'EVERY YEAR, THEY EITHER TALK ABOUT OR MAKE CHANGE'

- Uçum stated that there is "rule tutelage" in the current constitution and listed that a new constitution is needed to "expand the scope of the Parliament, perfect the Presidential Government System, and bring public initiatives." Do you agree with these reasons?

It didn't convince me. If there is a tutelage, it is a tutelage established by them. There are 177 articles in the current constitution, and this government made changes to 122 articles with the law on 12 constitutional amendments. A constitution does not change that often. Every year they either talk about or make constitutional amendments. The Constitution is the document that establishes the state in domestic law. The state is not re-established every year or every few years. The political function of the constitution is to limit political power and bring control and balance to power. AKP sees everything that limits political power as an obstacle and tends to eliminate it, and proceeds according to these short-term daily needs.

'THERE IS NO STABILITY IN COUNTRIES WHERE THE CONSTITUTION CHANGES FREQUENTLY'

Look, the USA is governed by a constitution dated 1787, this is stability. In our country, they do not allow institutions to become stronger. They want one person to become stronger and institutions to be weak. There is no regime stability in countries where the constitution changes frequently. They want to change the constitution again, which they almost completely rewrote 8 years ago. So, they didn't succeed, they were going to rewrite it. Would you hand over your house to the contractor whose house collapsed during the first earthquake so that he can rebuild it?

- What authority do they not have? What do they want?

Groups established within the state that plunder public resources are in serious competition as resources are shrinking. Erdogan is the one who keeps this regime alive. They want a transitional constitution in order to survive after Erdoğan. If something happens to the president today, there is an obligation to hold elections within 45 days. This creates a risk of being caught unprepared for the election and disrupting the regime. For this reason, the plan may be to elect a single deputy together with the president, and if something happens to the president, the deputy will complete his term. Thus, they may want to move forward without losing state control. Risk factors that may occur during and after the transition period are eliminated.

Another thing is that we can find support for fundamental rights and freedoms in the constitution. The last remaining shreds of freedom, even if they cannot be legally implemented, still stand as the people's mainstay because they are in the constitution. They may be aiming to remove them.

- What is the road map for a democratic constitution step by step?

The principle of the exercise of democratic constituent power is participation, deliberation and popular approval or veto. The realization of these processes depends on the use of rights and freedoms and the principle of representation. A Constituent Assembly must be formed so that there will not be an election with a threshold in the constituent assemblies. A democratic environment should be provided where all segments of society are represented, there is freedom of expression and issues are discussed in public. Based on this, the Constituent Assembly prepares a text. Then this text is presented to the public. The vote is not entirely "yes" or "no". Depending on its importance, progress is made with correctly formulated questions. For this reason, the constitution they constantly say will be reduced to changing only a few articles in an environment where the elections are a year and a half away.

- 2 months are up for fund fraud. Former minister Fatma Sayan Kaya, who was called to testify for the second time, was also arrested. How do you evaluate the legal process to date?

Since the society does not trust the judiciary, there is little belief that the investigation is carried out correctly, and the process is proceeding in a way that fosters this. Those who profiteer are outside, the journalists who report on the fund are inside.

'INSTITUTIONS ARE COLLAPPING ON THE PEOPLE, THE DAMAGE IS MUCH HIGHER THAN THE STOLEN MONEY'

- The penalties imposed on journalists are very high. On what legal basis are they based?

They distort elements of criminal articles for journalists. This is not fair, nor is it legal. The society does not want to be informed. It was admitted, under pressure from society, that fund theft was an organized crime. The bureaucracy leg of this crime has been revealed a little bit, but the political leg is unclear. Who is the leader of this criminal organization, and who has the power to immobilize the institutions responsible for control? This can't be anyone. What emerges does not satisfy the society. The biggest harm of authoritarian regimes is the loss of function of state institutions. Institutions are collapsing on the people. The values ​​we have produced, from CMB to Borsa Istanbul, are being destroyed. The damage is much greater than the stolen money. The constitution cannot be discussed both in such an economic crisis and in an undemocratic environment.

PORTRAIT

He was born in Istanbul in 1972. He graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law and completed his master's degree in public law. He received a doctorate in human rights law at the University of Essex. He served at the European Court of Human Rights in 2002. He became an assistant professor at Galatasaray University in 2004, an associate professor of constitutional law in 2011, and a professor in 2017. He wrote the books "The Making Process of the 1982 Constitution", "Parliamentary System with President", "Presidential Systems in the World".