Constitution making processes in Turkey: Civil constitution and millitary constitution discourse

This thesis will critically analyze the concept of "civil constitution", which came to the fore in the 2000s in Turkey. Since the 1961 and 1982 constitutions were made under the control of the military after the military coups, they were described as "coup constitutions" and were called "military constitutions". In addition, the 1961 and 1982 constitutions were the constitutions whose democracy was discussed in terms of both their constituent assemblies and their contents. As a result of the constitutional debates, especially in 2007 and after, some political parties and non-governmental organizations' demands for a "civil constitution" emerged. The concept of "civil constitution" has become a very important concept by becoming the focal point of constitutional debates. In the first part of this thesis, the concept of constitution and the constitution making process will be examined. In the second part, the making processes of the 1961 and 1982 constitutions will be discussed. In the third part, international literature review of the concept of "civil constitution" will be made. Between 2002 and 2018, the meanings attributed to the concept of "civil constitution" by the political parties with a majority in the parliament and their discourses on constitutional amendment will be examined comparatively. Keywords: constitution, civil constitution, constitution making in Turkey, 1961 Constitution, 1982 Constitution