The national security concept in Turkish Constitutional Law

This study aims to address the concept of national security with the dimension of Turkish Constitutional Law. National security, entered legal texts after World War II, and was first included in the National Security Law enacted by the USA in 1947. Today, the concept of national security is encountered both in international conventions and in the constitutions of various countries. In international conventions, the national security is regulated as a reason for limiting freedoms. But in various country constitutions, it is is regulated not only as a reason for limiting freedoms it is also referred for constitutional responsibility for ensuring national security. National security, which entered Turkish Constitutional Law for the first time with the 1961 Constitution, is also included in the 1982 Constitution. The national security concept is regulated in Türkish constitutions as a reason for limiting freedoms and in the provisions regarding the duties and responsibilities of the executive branch. For this reason, in the study, the regulation of national security in the Turkish constitutions was adhered to and the concept was examined in terms of personal freedoms and institutional responsibility. In this direction, in this study, firstly, national security is handled conceptually and its scope and definition are given, and how the concept is interpreted by the judicial organs in the 1961 and 1982 Constitutional periods is explained. In terms of personal freedoms, the regulation of national security as a special reason for restriction and the application of each of the criteria in article 13 of the Constitution in terms of national security are discussed within the framework of the relevant Türkish Constitutional Court decisions. In terms of rights and freedoms, where national security is not regulated as a special reason for restriction, the issue has been handled within the framework of the general restriction regime rules, and in this context, whether national security will be a constitutional limit in terms of rights and freedoms has been examined in the light of the decisions of the Türkish Constitutional Court and by using the views in the doctrine. Finally, in the study, national security was discussed in terms of institutional responsibility, and it was evaluated under the headings of the state organs responsible for ensuring national security and the MGK together with the developments after the 2017 constitutional amendment.