The Turkish government's initiative to prepare a new constitution and its recent move to lift the headscarf ban in universities was intensely debated at a conference held this week at Columbia University.

The conference titled “The New Draft Constitution of Turkey” was described as “a critical exchange between the drafters of the new Turkish constitution and scholars of democratic theory and comparative constitutions” in the flyers of Columbia University.

Mir Dengir Mehmet Fırat, deputy chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), and Ergun Özbudun, a professor of Law at Bilkent University, both active in the preparation of the draft constitution attended the conference sponsored by the Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion and the Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life at Columbia University. The Turkish Cultural Center was also among the sponsors.

“There are parties in Turkey that still use ethnic politics; therefore it is impossible to build a total consensus on the new constitution,” said Fırat. “In the 21st century, individual rights are more fundamental than minority rights. Same as everybody else, minorities in Turkey will benefit from the constitutional rights.” Fırat also added that the AKP disagrees with mandatory religion classes. “We think parents should decide if they want their children to attend those classes. We will not change the Constitution over this issue however we will change daily practices.”

Cüneyt Yüksel, a member of the Turkish Parliament, said if the AKP succeeds in passing a new constitution, this would be the first civilian constitution of Turkey.

Özbudun besides his position at Bilkent University is also the head of the committee drafting the new constitution. He said even the people who criticize the AKP agree that there is a need to change the 1982 Constitution. “But it is almost impossible to reach a compromise with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) over issues such as Article 301 – a controversial article of the Turkish penal code that makes it a crime to insult Turkishness, the definition of citizenship and education in the mother tongue.” The MHP that has 71 seats of Parliament's 550 formed an alliance with the AKP to pass a resolution that lifts the ban on headscarves in universities. Özbudun said the AKP should proceed by itself if the MHP does not cooperate in the other problematic issues of the Constitution.

Andrew Arato, professor of Political and Social Theory at the New School of Social Research, on the other hand, said the legitimacy of any constitution that did not manage to build the consensus of the majority will be questioned. Arato also suggested that taking the new constitution to a referendum is the best way to eliminate any legitimacy problem.

Fırat and Yüksel will also travel to Boston and Washington DC to talk about the draft of the new constitution.

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