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Starting with the historical development of constitutional government in Turkey, the author analyzes the basic characteristics of the present Turkish Constitution (that of 1982), the fundamental structure of the state (the legislature, executive, and the judiciary), the special role of the Constitutional Court, and the recent efforts at democratizing constitutional reforms.

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Context and History The Basic Characteristics of the 1982 Constitution Fundamental Rights and Liberties Parliament The Executive and the Administration The Judiciary Constitutional Justice Constitutional Revisions The Constitutional Crisis of 2007 and its Aftermath and the Search for a New Constitution

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Ergun Özbudun is a professor of Political Science and Constitutional Law at Bilkent University.

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