TÜSİAD's High Advisory Council Meeting was held in Istanbul on 22nd March 2011. Opening speeches were made by Mr. Erkut Yücaoğlu, Chairman of the High Advisory Council and Mrs. Ümit Boyner, the President of the Board of Directors of TÜSİAD.
Ümit Boyner touched upon the importance of a new, civil Constitution in her speech. Stressing the hope that the fresh Parliament to be formed after the June elections would draft a new Constitution, she drew attention to the fact that elections were being held without any change to the unacceptably high electoral threshold and without preparation of a law on political parties that would render more democratic and participatory parties. Stressing that first and foremost the new constitution needed to be a social contract representing the will of citizens to live together with all their diversity, Boyner stated that this needed to serve the aim of turning the problems dividing Turkey into unifying and transforming factors.
In his speech, Erkut Yücaoğlu stated that there were serious deficiencies in such fundamental democratic concepts as freedom of expression, fair justice and the separation of powers. Pointing to the fact that these isses needed to be dealt with urgently, he indicated the need for a new Constitution. Yücaoğlu said that in spite of all the amendments that had been made, the oppressive spirit of the Constitution had not changed. Assessing the existing state of the economy, Yücaoğlu stated two structural issues were causes for concern, one of them the chronic foreign trade deficit, the other a lack of job creation. Stressing that these structural problems restricted Turkey's growth, Yücaoğlu said that the fundamental solution to both problems lay in the creation of new business fields and an increase in the variety of goods and services.
Following the opening speeches, the results of the "New Constitution Round Table Meetings" initiated by TÜSİAD were announced. This study, entitled "Five Fundamental Dimensions of the New Constitution Process", comprises the conclusions reports that emerged from a series of round table discussions between academicians and opinion leaders held between 2nd November 2010 and 1st March 2011 together with the comments and evaluation report of the meetings' joint coordinators Prof. Dr. Ergun Özbudun and Prof. Dr. Turgut Tarhanlı.
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