Zekeriya Yapıcıoğlu told the expatriates about the mission, vision, and goals of HÜDA PAR and also touched upon the current political debates in Türkiye.

Yapıcıoğlu emphasized that they, as HÜDA PAR, were in favor of revamping the current presidential system in Turkey, saying: “Presidential System and Parliamentary System are not taboo. They should be thoroughly discussed. Neither is perfect. Both systems have both their pros and cons. Turkey had a parliamentary governance system for about 70 years. People faced serious challenges during these years. For example, the crisis that broke out during the presidential election in the parliamentary in 2007 when the main opposition CHP took the election to the Constitutional Court, claiming the legal requirement for attendance (367 MPs) was not met. After this crisis, snap elections were held so that the public could elect the president, and a constitutional amendment was approved. 69 percent of the people said, ‘Yes, people themselves should elect the President now.”

Noting that there are some troubles with the current presidential system, Yapıcıoğlu said: "The Parliamentary System was implemented for 70 years in the country, and it was also badly implemented. Now, in 3 years, did the presidential system really show so many flaws? I agree that there are some downsides to the system as well. The opposition parties are right in some of their objections. I think these can be fixed as well. We say that we favor a redressed presidential system.”

On 16 April 2017, Turkish voters approved a package of constitutional amendments aimed at replacing the existing parliamentary system with an executive presidency and thereby granting President Erdoğan to extend his power.

As a result of its approval, the office of the Prime Minister was abolished and the existing parliamentary system of government was replaced with an executive presidency and a presidential system.

The number of seats in Parliament was raised from 550 to 600, while, among a series of other proposals, the president was given more control over appointments to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK).

The referendum was held under a state of emergency that was declared following a failed military coup attempt in July 2016. (ILKHA)