January 18, 2017•Update: January 19, 2017
By Aynur Ekiz
ANKARA
A constitutional reform package which will change Turkey from a parliamentary system to a presidential one will pass round of voting this evening, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag predicted on Wednesday.
“In my the second round of the vote in parliament will be passed with between 340 and 347 votes. I don’t expect any negativity in this round,” he said in a live interview with Anadolu Agency’s Editors' Desk in Ankara.
Turkey’s parliament will convene on Wednesday afternoon for a second round of voting on an 18-article constitutional reform package.
The ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party aims to approve six articles per day in the second round of voting and finish by Jan. 21.
Lawmakers on Sunday completed the first round of voting on the significant reforms.
‘Single, strong government’
A presidential system will establish a strong government in Turkey as it brings political stability by its very nature, according to Bozdag.
He said a presidential system would solve what is described as a two-headed system, which caused political instability in the recent and bring a strong governmental system to the country.
Bozdag refused the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) claim that the reform package had changed the first four articles of the current constitution.
If the reforms pass with the votes of at least 330 out of 550 lawmakers, they will be voted on in a national referendum.
The government expects to hold a referendum in the beginning of April.
Constitutional reform and the change to a presidential system has been on the political agenda since Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former prime minister and AK Party was elected president in August 2014.
This marked the first time a Turkish president had been directly chosen by popular vote.
On Dec. 30, a constitutional committee of deputies from the ruling AK Party and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) submitted a proposed bill to parliament for ratification.
The CHP and the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) remain opposed to the proposed changes.
Proposed changes to the constitution require a simple majority (51 percent).
Istanbul nightclub attack
Speaking on the recent detention of the main suspect in the Istanbul nightclub attack that killed 39 people on the New Year’s Eve, Bozdag described it as a “great success” for the Turkish police department.
He stated the incident was “obviously” linked to the Daesh terrorist group.
Fugitive FETO suspect Adil Oksuz
When asked about the case of Adil Oksuz, a fugitive suspect linked to the July 15 coup attempt last year, Bozdag said he believed Oksuz was hiding somewhere in Turkey.
“I don’t see any possibility of his fleeing abroad. I think he has been hidden by someone,” the minister said.
The government has said the failed coup attempt was planned and staged by the Terrorist Organization (FETO), led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen. Oksuz was a senior figure linked to the deadly coup.
The July 15 coup left at least 248 people martyred, and around 2,200 others wounded.
Turkey's government also accuses the FETO terror network of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, and judiciary.
Since the failed coup attempt, operations have been ongoing in the military, and judiciary, as well as in state institutions across the country, to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETO.
