The new state of the Turkish nation: Establishment principles of the Republic in the 1921 and the 1924 Constitutions

Mainstream Turkish Constitutional Law doctrine divides constitutional history based on constitution of the relevant period. When making comparisons in constitutional periods or examining the relevant constitutional period, all constitutions are reviewed through an abstracted, decontextualized set of concepts, without evaluating concrete social conditions. With this approach, establishment of the Republic is dedicated to 29th October 1923, while 1921 and 1924 Constitutions are treated as two separate constitutions. Whereas this study addresses those Constitutions as a holistic process through the concept of republican project by re-reading the knowledge of historical and social relations. In this context, the most distinctive feature of transforming relations is accepted as the institutionalization of the political power within the Turkish Grand National Assembly being the sole and genuine representative of national sovereignty. Therefore, republic project and the constitution as its normative expression are defined in the first chapter. While republican project expresses the common values of a nation bearing common past and united around the imagination of building the future, the constitution meets normative expression of the dominant republic project in a society. The second part determines the republican project on which the Turkish Republic Revolution is based, adhering to concrete historical conditions. It is concluded that Turkish Nation established its new republic State by shaping on unitary, national unity and progress. The third part is devoted to discussing the 1921 and 1924 Constitutions from this Republic Project projection with a holistic approach and comparison. The determinations of the mainstream doctrine are questioned according to concrete historical realities. Finally, founding power of the National Assembly and the limits of its authority, election conditions of the representatives, articles regarding the autonomy of local governments and granted rights and freedoms are accepted as a normative expression of the one and the same republican project in the different periods.