POLITICAL SYSTEM OF TURKIYE

The politics of Turkey take place in the framework of a constitutional republic and
presidential system, with various levels and branches of power.
Turkey's political system is based on a separation of powers. Executive power is exercised
by the Council of Ministers, which is appointed and headed by the President, who serves as
country's head of state and head of government. Legislative power is vested in the Grand
National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Its
current constitution was adopted on 7 November 1982 after a constitutional referendum.
Major constitutional revisions were passed by the National Assembly on 21 January 2017
and approved by referendum on 16 April 2017. The reforms, among other measures,
abolished the position of Prime Minister and designated the President as both head of state
and government, effectively transforming Turkey from a parliamentary regime into a
presidential one.

National Government:
Turkey is a presidential representative democracy and a constitutional republic within a
pluriform multi-party system, in which the president (the head of state and head of
government), parliament, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government.
The government is divided into three branches, as per the specific terms articulated in part
three of the Turkish Constitution:
• Legislative: The unicameral Parliament makes law, debates and adopts the budget
bills, declares war, approves treaties, proclaims amnesty and pardon, and has the
power of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the government.
• Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto
legislative bills before they become law (subject to parliamentary override), can issue
presidential decrees on matters regarding executive power with exception of
fundamental rights, individual rights and certain political rights (parliamentary laws
prevail presidential decrees), and appoints the members of the Cabinet and other
officers, who administer and enforce national laws and policies.
• Judicial: The Constitutional Court (for constitutional adjudication and review of
individual applications concerning human rights), the Court of Cassation (final
decision maker in ordinary judiciary), the Council of State (final decision maker in
administrative judiciary) and the Court of Jurisdictional Disputes (for resolving the
disputes between courts for constitutional jurisdiction) are the four organizations
that are described by the Constitution as supreme courts. The judges of the
Constitutional Court are appointed by the president and the parliament.
Legislative power is invested in the 600-seat Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Türkiye Büyük Millet
Meclisi), representing 81 provinces. The members are elected for a five-year term by mitigated
proportional representation with an election threshold of 7%. To be represented in Parliament, a party
must win at least 7% of the national vote in a national parliamentary election. Independent candidates
may run, and to be elected, they must only win enough to get one seat.

The freedom and independence of the judicial system is protected within the constitution. There is no
organization, person, or institution which can interfere in the running of the courts, and the executive
and legislative structures must obey the courts' decisions. The courts, which are independent in
discharging their duties, must explain each ruling on the basis of the provisions of the Constitution, the
laws, jurisprudence, and their personal convictions.

The Judicial system is highly structured. Turkish courts have no jury system; judges render decisions
after establishing the facts in each case based on evidence presented by lawyers and prosecutors.
For minor civil complaints and offenses, justices of the peace take the case. This court has a single
judge. It has jurisdiction over misdemeanors and petty crimes, with penalties ranging from small fines
to brief prison sentences. Three-judge courts of first instance have jurisdiction over major civil suits
and serious crimes.

Administrative Divisions:
The political system of Turkey is highly centralized. However, as a member state of the
Council of Europe, Turkey is under an obligation to implement the European Charter of Local
Self-Government. In its 2011 report, the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe
found fundamental deficits in implementation, in particular administrative tutelage and
prohibition of the use of languages other than Turkish in the provision of public services.

Political Principles of Importance in Turkiye:

The Turkish Constitution is cumulatively built on the following principles:

• Kemalism
• Secularism
• Modernization

Most mainstream political parties are alternatively built either on the following principles:

• Nationalism
• Conservatism
• Kemalism
• Decentralization
Other political ideas have also influenced Turkish politics and modern history. Of particular
importance are:

• Neoliberalism
• Pan-Turkism
• Socialism
• Communism
• Erdoğanism

These principles are the continuum around which various – and often rapidly changing –
political parties and groups have campaigned (and sometimes fought). On a superficial level,
the importance which state officials attach to these principles and their posts can be seen in
their response to breaches of protocol in official ceremonies.

Political parties and elections:

Political Parties:
After World War II, Turkey operated under a multi-party system. On the right side of the
Turkish political spectrum, parties like Democrat Party (DP), Justice Party (AP), Motherland
Party (ANAP) and Justice and Development Party (AKP) once became the largest political
party in Turkey. Turkish right-wing parties are more likely to embrace principles of political
ideologies such as conservatism, nationalism or Islamism.[8] On the left side of the spectrum,
parties like Republican People's Party (CHP), Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) and
Democratic Left Party (DSP) once enjoyed the largest electoral success. Left-wing parties are
more likely to embrace principles of socialism, Kemalism or secularism.

Elections:
Elections in Turkey are held for six functions of government: presidential elections
(national), parliamentary elections (national), municipality mayors (local), district mayors
(local), provincial or municipal council members (local) and muhtars (local).
Apart from elections, referenda are also held occasionally. To put forward a referendum
regarding constitutional amendments, a supermajority (three fifths of the votes) in the
parliament is required first. These kinds of referendums are binding.
Sufferage:
Every Turkish citizen who has turned 18 has the right to vote and stand as a candidate at
elections. Universal suffrage for both sexes has been applied throughout Turkey since 1934.
According to the Constitution of the Ottoman Empire (1876), the age of candidacy was 30
and the voting age was 25. In the newly established Republic of Turkey, the voting age was
reduced to 18 due to the decreasing population, and the age of candidacy was still 30. The
voting age was increased to 22 in 1934, decreased to 21 in 1987, and 18 in 1995.
The age of candidacy dropped from 30 to 25 through a constitutional amendment in 2006.
Following the 2017 constitutional referendum, it was further lowered to 18.

Financing:
Political parties can use donations, dues, real estate income and income from party activities
to continue their activities. Since 1965, the Treasury also gives money to political parties.
According to the law, parties that participated in the last parliamentary elections and that
passed the general threshold are paid 0.04% of the general budget revenues each year. Apart
from this, the parties that received more than 3 percent of the votes despite being below the
threshold are also given public funding in proportion of support. This amount triples in
election years.
Political parties can't receive aid or donations in kind or in cash from foreign states,
international organizations and entities not of Turkish nationality. The same rule applies for
candidates in presidential elections. Anonymous donations to political parties are also not
allowed. It should be clearly stated in the receipt given by the party that the donation belongs
to the donor or the donor's authorized representative or attorney. Donations by political
parties cannot be accepted without relying on such a document. Donations from domestic
corporations with (partial) government ownership are also not allowed.
According to article 74 of the Political Parties Law, the financial control of political parties is
carried out by the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court supervises the compliance
of the property acquisitions, income and expenses of political parties with the Law.
Presidents of political parties are obliged to submit a certified copy of the final account and
the final accounts of the local organizations, including the party headquarters and its
affiliated districts, to the Constitutional Court and to the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor
of the Supreme Court for information, until the end of June.

Military Involvement in Politics:

Since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded the modern secular Republic of Turkey in 1923, the
Turkish military has perceived itself as the guardian of Atatürkçülük, the official state
ideology. The TAF still maintains an important degree of influence over Turkish politics and
the decision-making process regarding issues related to Turkish national security, albeit
decreased in the past decades, via the National Security Council.
The military has had a record of intervening in politics. Indeed, it assumed power for several
periods in the latter half of the 20th century. It executed coups d'état in 1960, in 1971, and
in 1980. Most recently, it maneuvered the removal of an Islamic-oriented prime minister,
Necmettin Erbakan, in 1997.
On 27 April 2007, in advance of 4 November 2007 presidential election, and in reaction to
the politics of Abdullah Gül, who has a past record of involvement in Islamist political
movements and banned Islamist parties such as the Welfare Party, the army issued a
statement of its interests. It said that the army is a party to "arguments" regarding
secularism; that Islamism ran counter to the secular nature of the Turkish Republic, and to
the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The Army's statement ended with a clear warning that
the Turkish Armed Forces stood ready to intervene if the secular nature of the Turkish
Constitution is compromised, stating that "the Turkish Armed Forces maintain their sound
determination to carry out their duties stemming from laws to protect the unchangeable
characteristics of the Republic of Turkey. Their loyalty to this determination is absolute."
Contrary to outsider expectations, the Turkish populace is not uniformly averse to coups;
many welcome the ejection of governments they perceive as unconstitutional. Members of
the military must also comply with the traditions of secularism, according to the US
Commission on International Religious Freedom report in 2008, members who performed
prayers or had wives who wore the headscarf, have been charged with “lack of discipline”.
Paradoxically, the military has both been an important force in Turkey's continuous
Westernization but at the same time also represents an obstacle for Turkey's desire to join
the EU. At the same time, the military enjoys a high degree of popular legitimacy, with
continuous opinion polls suggesting that the military is the state institution that the Turkish
people trust the most.

Ombudsman:
In 2012 the position of ombudsman was created. The ombudsman is charged with solving,
without the need to a recourse before the courts, the disagreements between citizens and
the administrations and other entities charged with a mission of a public service proposing
reforms to the Government and the administrations to further these goals; and actively
participating in the international promotion of human rights. The institution is independent
of the government and answers to the Parliament alone. The ombudsman is elected for a
period of 4 years by the Parliament.
Foreign Relations:
Throughout the Cold War, Turkey's most important ally has been the United States, which
shared Turkey's interest in containing Soviet expansion.[22][23] In support of the United
States, Turkey contributed personnel to the UN forces in the Korean War (1950–1953),
joined NATO in 1952, recognized Israel in 1948 and has cooperated closely with it.
Turkey's alliance with Israel during the Arab–Israeli conflict strained its relations with the
Arab world and Iran, and subsequently led to overt Syrian support for Palestinian and
Armenian terrorist operations against Turkish diplomats abroad until 1990