The panel will focus on the shrinking role of the Parliament and Judiciary vis-à-vis the executive power in the context of Turkey’s ‘new constitution’. Panellists will be treating the following questions: What is Turkey’s current constitutional system? What has been the impact of the ‘new constitution’ upon parliamentary politics in Turkey? Do the courts, and especially the Constitutional Court, play any role in checking and balancing the use of power by the President? What has been the impact of the current state of affairs regarding the separation of powers upon fundamental rights and freedoms? What are the distinguishing features of the present system in this historical context? Where does Turkey’s present constitutional system stand in the context of the history of Ottoman-Republican constitutions?
