Mehmet Uçum, senior adviser to the President and deputy chair of the Presidential Council for Legal Policies, assessed the debates surrounding Law No. 7595 on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration.
Application to the Constitutional Court
Uçum argued that the law had received strong political support, with 367 lawmakers submitting the bill and 467 voting for its adoption, and that an application to the Constitutional Court through abstract review was unlikely. He said the political and numerical conditions required for an application to the Constitutional Court were not expected to materialize.
According to Uçum, the deadline for an application for abstract review is October 17, 2026. He said an application through concrete review remained possible at any time, but was not expected to produce an outcome that could affect the process because it would depend on an uncertain timeframe.
Uçum said the main debate over the law’s constitutionality could center on the principle of equality. He noted that, under Constitutional Court jurisprudence, applying different rules to people in different legal positions was not considered contrary to the principle of equality. Uçum argued that the legislature had broad discretion in determining crime, punishment and sentence-execution policies.
Uçum said Law No. 7595 contained special provisions aimed at the definitive and permanent elimination of systematic terrorism and should therefore be assessed within the framework of equality in applying different rules to people in different circumstances.
Debate over the sentence-execution system
Uçum said Law No. 7595 was an autonomous and temporary measure, and that it would not be appropriate to formulate general demands concerning sentence-execution law on the basis of this regulation. He said the law did not set a precedent.
Uçum said reforms could be considered in the sentence-execution system that would provide satisfaction for victims, fairness for convicted prisoners and support for their reintegration into society. He added that new regulations could also be debated because of overcrowding in prisons. However, he argued that approaches that would create space for terrorist groups and criminal organizations must not be permitted during this process.
Political language and the transition process
Uçum drew attention to the importance of the political language used during the transition process, saying that ideological labels without a legal basis would make debates on legal reform more difficult. He said interlocutors engaged in dialogue with the state should also assume greater responsibility during this process.
Uçum said the state could not be characterized as an enemy, while people abroad should not be described as exiles, nor prisoners and convicted inmates as captives. He argued that Kurds in Türkiye could not be compared with Palestinians in Gaza and that the Republic of Türkiye could not be equated with Israel.
Uçum said it must be clearly stated that the politics of terrorism and violence were illegitimate, and called for language that could turn into armed action to be abandoned entirely. He said the purpose of the dialogue was to complete the transition to a Türkiye free of terrorism without disruption, adding that mechanisms for assessment, verification and commitment would contribute to the process.
Uçum also said that, after the transition process was completed, interlocutors with appropriate legal status could contribute to the development of democracy by adopting democratic politics free from tutelage.
Democracy report and the new constitution
Uçum argued that the transition process would expand the space for democratic politics and contribute to democracy. He said the recommendations in the commission’s report could serve as a basis for legislative work or be taken into consideration, making the report an important reference for the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye.
On the new constitution, Uçum said the adoption of Law No. 7595 with 467 votes had brought the issue back to the forefront. He said the idea of enacting a new constitution without submitting it to a popular vote, even with the support of more than 400 lawmakers, could not be accepted.
Uçum stressed that the current Constitution does not require a referendum for constitutional amendments adopted with 400 or more votes, but that a new constitution was fundamentally different from a law amending the existing Constitution. He said submitting the new constitution to the approval of the people was necessary for democratic legitimacy and national sovereignty.
Uçum assessed that completing the new constitution during the 28th Legislative Term appeared difficult and that the issue could be brought before the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye during the next legislative term.
