Civil society institutions in Turkey jointly announce their objection to ‘presidential system’
Parliamentary discussions on constitutional amendments in Turkey are set to start today (January 9).
As officials of opposition parties CHP and HDP have expressed their objection to the proposal of AKP and MHP, arguing the suggested changes aim to deactivate almost all effective functions of the legislative body and consolidate power under the authority of the president who is to maintain her/his affiliation with her/his political party, several civil society institutions in Turkey have also opposed to the shift to presidential system.
Around 40 associations, including bar associations, educational foundations, and arts and culture societies, have jointly made a call for the proposed amendments to be withdrawn.
Representatives of the groups will be holding a demonstration in Ankara in front of the Grand National Assembly in the afternoon today, in order to send across their message.