Evaluation of the amendments in the 1924 Constitution in terms of the development of the history of Turkish democracy

The constitutional process in the history of Turkish law began as a result of the economic and political conditions experienced during the last periods of the Ottoman Empire. In this period, constitutional documents such as Şerr-i Haccet (religious contract), Senedi Ittifak (alliance agreement) , Tanzimat and Islahat Edicts were published as an edict of the sultan. These constitutional documents have played an important role in Turkey's constitutional development. After these documents, the Ottoman Empire took an important step in terms of democratization and adopted the Constitution of 1876, which is the first constitution in Turkish legal history. During this period, the first Ottoman Parliament was opened and the Constitutional Monarchy Period started in Turkey. These steps, which were taken to prevent the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, were ineffective with the loss of the First World War, and Istanbul was occupied by the victorious states and the Last Ottoman Parliament was dissolved. The new parliament, which was opened in Ankara by Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his friends after the dissolution of the Mebussan Assembly, both made efforts for the liberation of the country and adopted the 1921 Constitution. The 1921 Constitution, which is the first constitution of the new Turkish state, is a short constitution prepared under extraordinary conditions during the war years. After the War of Independence was won, some amendments were made to this constitution in order to ensure the democratization and modernization of Turkey. For this purpose, the sultanate and caliphate were abolished and the Republic was proclaimed. With these arrangements, it was ensured that Turkey adopted a management model based on fundamental values such as democracy and human rights. After the above-mentioned changes, the Republic of Turkey needed a constitution suitable for its new form of government and adopted the 1924 Constitution. The new constitution in question was designed in accordance with the political, social and economic conditions of Turkey in the early years of the Republic and has played an important place in the constitutional development process of the country. The aim of the study named "Evaluation of the Amendments in the 1924 Constitution in terms of the Development of the History of Turkish Democracy"; is to reveal the contributions of the 1924 Constitution to the democratization and secularization of the Republic of Turkey after the revolutions in the field of democratization such as the abolition of the sultanate, the abolition of the caliphate and the proclamation of the Republic. It is aimed to reveal with documents what kind of changes took place in Turkey with the first version of the Constitution and the amendments made in the constitution in the following period, which democratization steps were taken and what effects these had on the development of the country. In the context of the explanations made above, this study deals with what changes were made in the 1924 Constitution in order to ensure the development of democracy in Turkey. The main problem and aim of this thesis is to reveal the contribution of these changes to Turkey's democratization and modernization. While examining the changes in the Constitution, related books, articles, graduate theses, periodicals and the minutes of the Turkish Grand National Assembly were examined. Finally, this thesis is a qualitative study and the data in the research were obtained using document analysis technique.