New constitution planned for end 2012, Turkish parliament speaker says

KONYA (A.A) - January 22, 2012 - Turkish Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek said on Sunday that they aimed at introducing a new constitution in Turkey by the end of the year. "Our goal is to gift this constitution to Turkey by the end of 2012. There is no way that Turkey can continue with the existing constitution. In my opinion, the expiry date has already passed for it," Cicek told a meeting with civil society organizations in the central city of Konya.  Cicek said new constitution should be made in line with the wishes of citizens, adding that all segments of the society should make a contribution to the writing of a new constitution.  Cicek rejected claims that the current parliament lacked the authority to make a new constitution, adding that all political parties in the parliament, which had an equal number of representatives in the constitutional committee, had agreed that the current parliament had an authority to make a new constitution.