Turkish leader Erdoğan reaffirms aim to introduce new Constitution

Turkey's president on Tuesday reasserted government plans to introduce a new Constitution.

"We maintain our will to save our nation from the current Constitution, which is the product of a coup," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at a ceremony in the capital Ankara marking the 154th anniversary of the country's top administrative court.

Erdoğan has been pushing for a new Constitution to be drafted under civilian rule to replace the current one introduced after a military coup in 1980.

At the event, he underscored his government's multiple attempts in parliament to introduce a new Constitution, drafted with a democratic approach and written in plain language.

"With this aim, we even led the formation of a parliamentary committee with an equal number of members from all parties," he said, adding that this was thwarted because of the "irreconcilable and obstructive attitude" of the opposition parties.

However, he vowed to pass "a civilian, libertarian, and inclusive Constitution" when the opportunity arises.

Underlining that changing the Constitution and other laws was not a bad thing, Erdoğan stressed that the quality of the enforcer "is as vital as the accuracy of the laws."

"Rule of law is a sine qua non of democracy," the Turkish leader stressed. "As a politician who suffered from many unlawful imputations, harassment, and penalties, I have been striving to strengthen the rule of law in Turkey since the day I took office."

"Through the reforms we made, we have consolidated the rule of law across a wide area from the Constitution to laws, from administrative practices to international conventions," he added.