Turkish parliament speaker calls on party leaders to harmonize current laws with new constitution in meeting

ANKARA

Turkish parliament speaker İsmail Kahraman has called on leaders of the country’s four political parties to gather in a meeting to discuss the harmonization of the existing legislation with the new constitution approved by a referendum on April 16.   

Kahraman asked the leaders of the parties, which have groups in parliament, to gather in a bid to harmonize the parliament’s internal regulation with the constitutional amendment, which has been approved by a narrow majority in the April 16 referendum. 

The meeting is reportedly scheduled to take place on June 8 in parliament. 

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) are in alliance in the constitutional change. 

But the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), who have objected to the constitutional referendum, previously announced that they will not participate in any process that would be regarded as “legitimizing the constitutional amendment.”