Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş visited the DEM Party Parliamentary Group and met with co-chairs Tulay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan as part of negotiations for a new constitution.

Speaking after the meeting, Kurtulmuş said: "Within the framework of the constitutional work we started on Tuesday, we are continuing the second day of contacts today with the 3 parties that have groups in the parliament. We made our first visit to the DEM Party. We shared our views and the framework of this process with them. We conveyed to them our demand that this process be carried out in an open, transparent and democratic manner. The esteemed Co-Chairs and Group Deputy Chairs will share their views on this issue with the public after negotiating with their friends. Our wish is that a constitutional work that can be agreed upon by a large majority of political parties in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey is put forward and that it is accepted in the Parliament. We will make a more detailed explanation about this matter at the end of the visit to the 3 parties."

DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları stated the following:

"As the DEM Party, we believe that Turkey needs a constitution-making process. We have made various statements on this issue. While we are going through a period in which even the 12 September Constitution is not being implemented, our views on changing the 12 September Constitution and taking steps to build a democratic Turkey are known by the public. In this period, of course, there is a need for a road clearing. In order to build a democratic constitution-making process in Turkey, it is very important for us that the current repressive process and antidemocratic practices are eliminated and the provisions of the constitution and the ECtHR judgments are implemented.

Today, we underlined that we view the violence that took place on 1 May negatively and that the constitution-making process may have difficulties under such circumstances. Our greatest wish is that a serious road clearing is done, a democratic ground is created, and a constitution-making process is carried out on a ground where the rights of all differences, all different peoples and beliefs in Turkey are constitutionally guaranteed on the basis of the right to equal citizenship with the widest range of social consensus. This is, of course, also important for us.

Finally, there is a deep economic crisis and poverty in Turkey. The constitutional debates must be resolved in a way that does not cover up this urgent and alarming problem of the country. We have a duty and responsibility towards our peoples, the poor, workers and labourers of this country on the floor of the parliament and together, as all political parties."