TURKEY: RIVALS FIND COMMON CAUSE IN CONSTITUTIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000795 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/25/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: RIVALS FIND COMMON CAUSE IN CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM REF: ANKARA 773 Classified By: Political Counselor Janice G. Weiner, for Reasons 1.4 (b ,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Long-standing civil society rivals have linked arms to press politicians to resuscitate efforts for comprehensive constitutional reform -- this time in a fashion that draws on a broad base. Two top business organizations, TUSIAD and TOBB, have quietly pitched to the major parties in parliament a constitutional convention, that would include representatives of political parties, but would draw in the full scope of NGOs, labor, and academia. It would be aimed at hammering out broad reform (though not necessarily an entirely new constitution, as per the US model). This effort, whether or not it achieves a result, is noteworthy for unexpected cooperation among politically divergent groups and stepped-up civil society leadership. END SUMMARY. Who Are TOBB and TUSIAD? -------------- ¶2. (SBU) TUSIAD, the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association, represents Turkey's high-end business league, while TOBB, the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges, represents small and medium enterprises, including companies in the booming cities known as the Anatolian tigers. Normally TUSIAD and TOBB are rivals in the business NGO platform. They rarely cooperate, let alone talk; the former reflects elite-level thinking, and the latter more the mainstream heartland. ¶3. (U) TOBB was founded in 1950. With mandatory membership for all Turkish companies, TOBB has over 1.2 million dues-paying members. TOBB's functions are to guide Turkish entrepreneurs, inform political leaders and parliamentarians of the opinions and requirements of the private sector, ensure unity and solidarity between chambers and commodity exchanges, and ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises receive an equitable share of business. TOBB opened its first U.S. office in Washington in 2007. TUSIAD, founded in 1971, is an independent, non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting public welfare through private enterprise. TUSIAD is comprised of the Chief Executive Officers and Executives of the major industrial and service companies in Turkey, including several among global Fortune 500 companies. TUSIAD opened its first U.S. office in Washington in 1998. The Constitutional Proposal ; -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Their joint proposal envisions a Constitutional Commission composed of political parties in parliament (two representatives each from those with party groups, and one representative each from parties without groups),headed by the Speaker. A consultative Constitutional Forum will include one (consistent) representative each from universities, political parties eligible to participate in the general elections, and civil society institutions and organizations on the Constitutional Platform Initiative (a group of about 20 NGOs in business, women's issues, broadcasting, and labor established in September 2007 to achieve social consensus on the principles of a revised constitution). The Commission's first order of business would be to determine whether to produce a new constitution or to make radical changes to the existing constitution. The Commission should reach a conclusion within one month and submit its decision to parliament. The Commission will determine the content and scope of the constitutional amendments and prepare an 18-month calendar. It will submit regular reports to the Speaker's office and every three months report to the General Assembly. At least 15 days before presentation to the General Assembly, the Commission will consult with the Forum. In accordance with the set calendar, the Commission will prepare a draft for debate at the Forum. After this debate, the final text will be converted into a draft law and opened to the signature of the deputies. ¶5. (C) The proposal suggests 33 changes in three broad areas ANKARA 00000795 002 OF 002 -- political, human rights, and state of law. Without delving into specifics, the proposal suggests: --Political: Enhancing legal and political transparency, boosting internal party democracy, reducing the election threshold, making universities autonomous, and specifying the exact authorities of the President. --Human Rights: Including the concept of human dignity and emphasizing equality, especially gender equality; broadening the Religious Affairs Directorate's scope to include services to other than Sunni Muslims (but keeping religious training firmly under the control of the state); specifying the state's role as serving the citizens; lifting restrictions on freedom of expression and media; easing restrictions on rights of assembly and association. --State of law (hukuk devleti -- a concept often loosely translated as rule of law): Limiting the state's "privilege of superiority" through the guarantees of individual rights. It also suggests the concept of public benefit has been used to evade accountability and proposes regulating the limits of public benefit. It proposes reforms to enhance the judiciary's independence -- the most striking being the absence of any military slots on the Constitutional Court. ¶6. (C) COMMENT. That this effort has been kept out of the public eye is an impressive feat that may give it a chance to ripen. The proposal itself -- so far, a vague statement of principles with marked gaps in the modalities of such a constitutional convention -- faces substantial hurdles to getting off the ground, given the more immediate concern of the party closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) at the Constitutional Court. At the same time, AKP's interest in demonstrating its democratic credentials may make it more amenable to appearing to reach out across the aisle -- DPM Cicek has reportedly both agreed to the proposal, and agreed that changes to the party closure provisions would be prospective. TOBB's and TUSIAD's unexpected cooperation may be a reaction to the political upheaval underlying the closure case. Both groups are also concerned about repairing the damage to Turkey's EU accession process. But their ability to work together to try to help Turkey and, in the process, help the political class dig itself out from the hole in which it currently finds itself, is a healthy sign of civil society taking on tasks that previously the military and other "state" institutions had reserved as their private turf. END COMMENT. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON