Making and unmaking a constittion

Professor Şükrü Karatepe, one of the president's advisors, recently spoke about the constitutional amendment that we will vote on in the referendum on April 17. "Perhaps we will implement it for three or five years. Then we'll take a look and if we see if it is working or not. If it is not, we'll get parliament to change it again," he said.

Karatepe is an expert in constitutional law. He is a professor. He has written a textbook called "An Introduction to Constitutional Law." In other words, he is someone we should take seriously. But just look at what he said. 

What we call a constitution is a legal document that determines the administration of the state. It shows which organs the people will exercise their sovereignty with and defines citizens' rights.

Encapsulating fundamental rules, the constitution outlines the principal law above all other legal documents. It is not just a vase you can paint however you want. You can't say: "You painted it. If you didn't like it, you can paint it again."

If we look at the statements of those ruling the state, Turkey is facing a fundamental existential threat. Our independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity is under threat. 

They are attempting to change the fundamental law of the state with an understanding based on "Let's try and see."

The current constitution, which is a legacy of the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup, has been changed several times. Each time, parliament has come together, there have been long works in the relevant commissions, and the amendments have been passed with the greatest possible participation. There have even been referendums for some of these amendments. 

Now look at where we have ended up.

Two officials who...