Erdoğan pledges to change customary rules of the state

President-elect Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has heralded an “overhaul of the customary rules of the state” of the Turkish Republic when he takes office at Çankaya Palace, while urging his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to secure a stronger parliamentary majority next year to enable them to re-write the Constitution.

“I will use all of the authorities granted to me in the Constitution. Until today, these authorities have not been used fully, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that I will not use them,” Erdoğan said at a closed-door meeting with deputies of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) late on Aug. 14.

“They say that ‘This is the way the customs work.’ What customs?” said the outgoing prime minister, who was elected as president on Aug. 10 in the country’s first-ever direct election.

“For the first time, the president has been elected by the people, therefore a new custom has emerged. The ‘New Turkey’ will have new customs. It will be us who will shape these new customs and we will go on with these customs. We will reach our 2023 target this way,” Erdoğan added.

In the run-up to the election, he repeatedly argued that the current Constitution grants “executive power” to the president-elect who comes to the office via popular vote, just as the 1982 Constitution granted “executive power” to coup leader Kenan Evren.

Evren led the Sept. 12, 1980, military coup d’état, which ushered in a period of repression, torture and execution, primarily against the left. As the chief of the General Staff, Evren became the “natural chairman” of the transitional National Security Council (MGK), thus...