Reviewing the Constitution is an apparatus of the reform process in Türkiye, according to Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş.

"Türkiye needs a willpower for reform," Kurtulmuş told reporters at a ceremony in the capital Ankara on Thursday. "In light of developments around the world, it’s impossible for things to stay the way they used to be."

The question of whether and how to rewrite Türkiye's Constitution has largely dominated domestic politics this year after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) said it is a priority.

Kurtulmuş said the issue first requires a discussion on methods to "correctly" determine the fundamentals of a new document later on.

"It’s essential that the process is managed transparently where everyone can express their opinion and negotiations take place honestly," he said.

"A new constitution must eliminate any concessions or exceptions, the biggest enemy of democracy, which would mean transferring public power to certain elitist or privileged groups," Kurtulmuş argued.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the new legislative term earlier this month, Erdoğan called the 1982 Constitution "expired" and argued that "more than 20 amendments implemented in the Constitution demonstrate that the nation is not satisfied with it."

"Our basic principle is having a reconciling platform, not a polarizing one, to focus on freedoms, not bans. The new constitution should not divide the state and the nation; rather, it should unite both," he told lawmakers.

Erdoğan’s government has been pushing to overhaul Türkiye’s Constitution for over a decade now, which was enforced in 1982 following a military coup that led to the detention of hundreds of thousands of people along with mass trials, torture and executions, which still represents a dark period in Turkish political history.

The AK Party has a comprehensive draft prepared by a scientific council during the pandemic, which it’s hoping to submit to Parliament. AK Party ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) also has a constitutional draft including over 100 articles.

The ruling party organized a workshop to discuss the matter with a group of academics in Ankara on Thursday.

"We want a constitution based on a consensus of the largest possible scale," AK Party Deputy Chair Hayati Yazıcı said ahead of the workshop.

He said the new constitution would promote high-standard democracy, guaranteed freedoms and the rule of law.

The party’s workshops will continue with legal experts, nongovernmental organizations, journalists and representatives of various societal groups.

It will also host public gatherings to take suggestions from ordinary citizens on new fundamental laws

Before the summer recess, Kurtulmuş oversaw talks between political parties on a constitutional overhaul and has been visiting representatives of all parties at Parliament since January to discuss a new constitution.

He has said the general consensus is positive toward a new constitution, but the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) "still remains far from the table."

The CHP is inclined to reject any constitutional negotiations with the AK Party over the Constitutional Court’s ruling on Can Atalay, a jailed opposition deputy stripped of his parliamentary immunity this year.

At least 400 lawmakers must ratify a new constitution draft in Parliament. Anything over 360 votes would allow a referendum, allowing the people to decide.

The People’s Alliance, featuring the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), doesn’t have a parliamentary majority, but insiders have alleged the bloc could make new moves to persuade the opposition, including changes to the current presidential system.

Since its founding, the modern Turkish state has been governed under four constitutions, with the first adopted in 1921 then changing in 1924 and 1961 before the Constitution of 1982 was implemented.

The document has undergone nearly 20 amendments over the years to keep up with global and regional geopolitical conjectures. The most notable changes were introduced via referendums in 2010 by enabling the trialing of the 1980 coup plotters in civil courts and in 2017 by replacing the parliamentary system with an executive presidency.