Social Demand Grows for a New Constitution 68 percent of the participants stated the need for a new constitution, poll conducted by TEPAV in collaboration with the A&G Research Company reveals.

ANKARA - Public opinion polls reveal that the social demand for a new constitution is growing. According to two public opinion polls conducted for TEPAV in 2008 and 2011, the ratio of respondents who declared that a new constitution is needed increased from 41 percent to 69 percent.

TEPAV and A&G Research Company conducted a public opinion poll with 2516 respondents, 1235 female and 1281 male, at or above 18 years of age representing the voting population. The poll, carried out on 19-20 February 2011 in 34 provinces 142 district and villages, involved face-to-face interviews in households. As the results show, 68.8 percent of the respondents stated that a new constitution in Turkey is needed. This, compared to the results of the previous poll conducted in 2008, implies that the demand of the public for a new constitution is growing.

The previous polls conducted between 8 November and 23 December 2008 revealed that 41 percent of the participants stated that there was a need for a new constitution. The results of the poll carried out on 28-30 August 2010 right before the referendum held on 12 September 2010 said that 43.5 percent of the participants were of the opinion that Turkey needed a new constitution regardless of the outcome of the referendum.

The polls conducted over a period of two years indicated that the public opinion about a new constitution had changed remarkably. In 2008, 59% of the society did not observe a need for a new constitution while this ratio dropped to 31.2 percent by the end of February 2011.

Experts emphasize that the referendum held on 12 September 2010 had a major role in the mentioned transformation. The social demand for a new constitution, which grew slightly from 41% in 2008 to 43.5% in August 2010, grew sharply to 68.8% in February 2011. This rapid increase in the last two months compared with the slight improvement in the preceding two years has been considered as evidence of the growing confidence of society about making a new constitution relying on the victory of the "yes" votes' in the referendum.