JOINT STATEMENT OF THE LEADERS OF THE SIX POLITICAL PARTIES (Ankara, 28 November 2022)

(Ankara, 28 November 2022)

As the leaders of six political parties representing our nation in the widest spectrum, we came together today in a meeting hosted by the Democrat Party. Prior to this meeting of the Table of Six, we introduced our proposal for a constitutional amendment on a strengthened parliamentary system to the public with great enthusiasm.

We have thus accomplished a great deed that Turkey has hoped to see materialize for years. We propose a new system that is to replace the arbitrary and authoritarian system, the so-called presidential governmental system, by amending article 84 of the Constitution, but one that also addresses the problems experienced in our previous parliamentary past. We are committed to building a liberal, democratic, and just system in the Turkey of tomorrow with an effective and participatory legislature, a stable and accountable executive, an independent and impartial judiciary within a public administration where an established institutional culture reigns and the separation of powers is ensured.

Our Constitutional and Legal Reforms Committee, which has prepared the constitutional amendment proposal, is now in the process of drafting the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure and the Law on Political Ethics in accordance with the constitutional amendment proposal on a strengthened parliamentary system. In addition, this committee will organise visits and civil society meetings all over the country in order to introduce our constitutional amendment proposal, inform the public and receive the feedback of all social segments. We expect all our citizens to look into our constitutional amendment proposal on the website www.altilimasa.biz and share their views with us.

Today we also worked on the roadmap for transition to a strengthened parliamentary system in detail and finalized most of the preparatory work.

We also discussed the interim report of the Joint Working Group at our meeting. The Joint Working Group works intensively on nine main themes and 72 sub-themes. The group has completed its work on 36 sub-themes and has brought the work on 5 sub-themes to the finalization stage. Work on the other sub-themes is ongoing. We will share the results of these efforts with the public in the coming days as our common commitments.

Today, we also discussed the developments in domestic and foreign policy.

Due to domestic and foreign policy being dominated by arbitrariness instead of law, the interests of our country and nation have been replaced by the personal interests of the government and its partners. By prioritising the needs of a narrow group of people in the economy, foreign policy and security issues, the grievances of our nation have been dismissed as banal complaints by the government, and it has even become the basic policy of the government that we should 'just get used to it'.

In addition, protecting our borders and ensuring our national security is our main priority in foreign policy. In this context, we welcome with appreciation and gratitude the fight against terrorism by our Turkish Armed Forces and Police Forces at the cost of their lives. However, we believe that discourse and policies that exploit the issue for domestic politics and antagonize different social segments are contrary to our national interests.

We, as the leaders of six political parties, are aware of our responsibilities in this profound economic and political crisis into which the government has thrown our country and our nation. We are determined to bring democracy, prosperity, and peace to our nation. Our primary goal is to provide all our citizens with a standard of living and welfare worthy of human dignity.

We are respectfully at our nation's service.