DIRECT ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT BY THE PEOPLE: THE CASE OF TURKEY

2021, Yıl 5, Sayı 16, 19 - 35 DIRECT ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT BY THE PEOPLE: THE CASE OF TURKEY CUMHURBAŞKANINI HALKIN DOĞRUDAN SEÇMESİ: TÜRKİYE ÖRNEĞİ DOI: 10.33404/anasay.911100 Çalışma Türü: Araştırma Makalesi / Research Article1* Hasan YILMAZ** ABSTRACT The government of law is defined as the government bound by the rules of law and provides all kinds of legal guarantees to its citizens. The democratic government of law, also, is obliged to protect the rights of citizens, especially fundamental rights and freedoms. The most important trait of democracy is that the people transfer their sovereignty to a structure, institution or power through democratic principles. The focus of the conception of democracy in this context should be to provide, protect and develop fundamental rights and freedoms. 1- Makale Geliş Tarihi: 07. 04. 2021 Makale Kabül Tarihi: 30. 04. 2021 * This study has been produced by modifying the work presented as a paper at the 1st International Communication and Management Congress on September 26-28, 2019. The article is the revised and expanded version of the aforementioned paper. ** Asst. Prof., İnönü University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Department of Political Science and Public Administration, , ORCID ID org/0000-0001-9212-8084 https://orcid. 19 DIRECT ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT BY THE PEOPLE: THE CASE OF TURKEY In the regimes in which democracy is practised, each government branch (power) is been entrusted with specific duty. The members of the parliament are elected by the people through democratic methods and gathered under the roof of the parliament. The legislative power regulates the rules of social life in the context of the concepts of sovereignty and democracy. Executive members are responsible for implementing the rules and regulations of the legislative body. The president represents the government and assumes the role of government. The judiciary has undertaken the duty of enforcing the laws following the codes. In democracies based on the principle of separation of powers, the limits and responsibilities of each power mentioned in the Constitution and laws have been determined together with the executive, judicial and legislative functions. According to article 8 of the Constitution, the executive power and duty shall be exercised by the President in accord with the Constitution and the laws. The twelfth Presidential elections in Turkey in 2014 were of historical importance. Following the 367 crisis in the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 2007, the referendum for the amendment regulating the direct election of the president by the people was approved. Thus, for the first time in Turkish democracy people, not the members of the parliament went to the ballot boxes and voted for the 12th president of Turkey. In this study, systematic review method was used. It is concluded that the direct election of the President by the people in Turkey is forward step in terms of democracy. Keywords: President, Democracy, Legislature, Executive. ÖZ Hukuk devleti, hukuk kurallarına bağlı ve vatandaşlarına her türlü hukuki güvenceler sağlayan devlet olarak bilinmektedir. Demokratik hukuk devleti ise temel hak ve özgürlükler başta olmak üzere vatandaş haklarını korumakla yükümlüdür. Demokrasinin en önemli özelliği, halkın kendi egemenlik hakkını demokratik ilkeler yoluyla bir yapıya, kuruma veya kuvvete devretmesidir. Demokrasi anlayışının bu bağlamda odaklandığı alan temel hak ve özgürlükleri sağlamak, korumak ve geliştirmek olmalıdır. Demokrasinin uygulandığı rejimlerde kuvvetlere (erk) birer görev yüklenmiştir. Yasama üyeleri olan milletvekilleri halk tarafından demokratik yöntemlerle seçilerek parlamento çatısı altında toplanmaktadır. Yasama kuvveti egemenlik ve demokrasi kavramları bağlamında halk adına toplumsal yaşamı düzenleyici kuralları düzenler ve kararlar almaktadır. Yürütme üyeleri ise yasa- 20 Hasan YILMAZ ma organının oluşturduğu kurallar ve düzenlemeleri uygulamaktan sorumludur. Yürütmenin başı Cumhurbaşkanı devleti temsil eder ve hükümet etme görevini üstlenmektedir. Yargı erki ise kanunları hukuka uygun olarak uygulamak görevini üstlenmiştir. Anayasa’nın 8. Maddesine göre yürütme yetkisi ve görevi, Cumhurbaşkanı tarafından Anayasa ve kanunlara uygun olarak kullanılır ve yerine getirilir. Türkiye’de 2014 yılındaki 12. Cumhurbaşkanlığı seçimleri tarihe geçmiştir. 2007 yılında TBMM’de yaşanan 367 krizi sonrasında yapılan referandum ile Cumhurbaşkanı’nın doğrudan halk tarafından seçilmesi kabul edilmiştir. Böylelikle 2014 yılında ise bir ilk yaşanmış ve Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin 12. Cumhurbaşkanını belirlemek için seçmen sandığa giderek oyunu kullanmış ve ülkesinin Cumhurbaşkanını TBMM’deki temsilcileri yoluyla değil doğrudan kendisi seçmiştir. Bu çalışmada, sistematik derleme yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Türkiye’de Cumhurbaşkanını doğrudan halkın seçmesinin demokrasi lehine bir adım olduğu sonucuna varılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Cumhurbaşkanı, Demokrasi, Yasama, Yürütme. 1. INTRODUCTION The government of law is known as the government that is bound by the rules of law and provides all kinds of legal guarantees to its citizens. The democratic government of law, on the other hand, is obliged to protect the rights of citizens, especially fundamental rights and freedoms. The most important feature of democracy is that the people transfer their sovereignty to a structure, institution or power through democratic principles. The focus of the understanding of democracy in this context is the provision and development of fundamental rights and freedoms. In regimes where democracy is implemented, powers have been assigned a specific task. In democracies based on the principle of separation of powers among the executive, judiciary and legislative bodies, the limits and responsibilities of each power are determined in the Constitution and laws. Deputies who are members of the legislature are elected by the people through democratic methods and gather under roof of the parliament. Legislative power makes decisions on behalf of the people in the light of the concepts of sovereignty and democracy. The executive members are responsible for implementing the rules and regulations established by the legislature and undertake the government task. Judicairy is the power which is performed through trials in courts. 21 DIRECT ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT BY THE PEOPLE: THE CASE OF TURKEY According to the 7th Article of the Constitution, legislative power belongs only to the Turkey Grand National Assembly and this power is not transferable. According to Article 8 of the Constitution, executive power and duty are exercised by the President in accordance with the Constitution and laws. According to Article 9 of the Constitution, judicial power is exercised by independent and impartial courts on behalf of the Turkish Nation (T.C. Constitution, 1982). The deputies elected through the votes of citizens of the Republic of Turkey act as (...truncated)