Turkish president calls for new constitution embracing all people

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish president on Friday called for the creation of a new constitution for the country that stands up for the public’s hopes and dreams.

"Let's make a new, civil, libertarian constitution that embraces the dreams of all the people of this country. This is a call for all 85 million (people in Türkiye)," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a groundbreaking ceremony for houses and the handover of over 1,400 houses and 17 shops in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir.

Speaking in what is known as Türkiye's largest Kurdish-majority city, Erdogan spoke of thousands of killings by the terrorist group PKK, saying the group’s interest is not the Kurdish people, as they are "murderers and terrorists."

"They are not interested in Diyarbakir. They work for the interest of whoever backs them," he added.

Emphasizing that Türkiye will not accept a political system that bows down to others, Erdogan added that it will also reject politics steered by terrorist groups such as the PKK and FETO, the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US and EU — has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

"In this Türkiye, no one can be despised or marginalized due to their origin, belief, language, or attire," Erdogan said.

Later, attending an iftar fast-breaking dinner for the holy month of Ramadan with quake victims, he said: "The scale of the earthquake disaster we experienced on Feb. 6 is beyond words."

Erdogan vowed to continue work in the city “until all traces of the earthquake are removed, and life returns to normal."

On Feb. 6, magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck numerous Turkish provinces, taking over 50,000 lives.

Around 14 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the quakes, as well as many others in northern Syria.