The terms ‘secular’ and ‘impartial’ lifted in AKP’s draft Constitutional amendment
In AKP’s draft amendment of the Constitution, changes considered for the text of the oath taken by top state officials and parliamentarians while coming to duty include replacement of the term ‘honor’ with ‘divine deeds’ and exclusion of the expressions of ‘impartiality’ and ‘secularism.’
The current text of the oath taken by the President as appears in the Constitution is as follows: “Under the title of the President, I swear on my honor and dignity before the great Turkish nation and before history that I will give full effort in all my capacity to safeguard the existence and independence of the state, the indivisible unity of the homeland and the nation, and the unconditional sovereignty of the nation; to abide by the Constitution, the rule of law, democracy, the principles and reforms of Atatürk, and the principle of a secular republic; not to deviate from the ideal of all enjoying human rights and basic freedoms in peace, prosperity and in a spirit of national solidarity and justice; to preserve and enhance the glory and honor of the Republic of Turkey; and, to fulfill the duties I have assumed with impartiality.”
AKP’s draft also does not include the expression of ‘the Great Turkish Nation’, which has always been one of the most controversial points of debate in Turkey. However, the statement about ‘maintaining impartiality’ in ‘safeguarding the principle of a secular republic’ is removed.
On the other hand, the word that replaces ‘honor’ (namus, in Turkish) is an Ottoman-Turkish expression of ‘mukaddesat’, which is defined in the dictionary of Turkish Language Institution as ‘beliefs and deeds that are considered as holy and divine.’
Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/yeni-yeminde-laiklik-yok-mukaddesat-var-133483.html