Today in History – 5 February

The Six Arrows become the founding principles of Turkey

On February 5, 1937, the phrase, “The Republic of Turkey is republican, nationalist, populist, statist, secular, and reformist,” was added to Article 2 of the Constitution, implementing the “Six Arrows” of CHP as the founding principles of the state.

By the mid 1930s, debates prevailed over a tighter connection between the state and the Republican People’s Party (CHP), which had been an integral part of the state from the onset. As the first step of this ideology, the clause, “Turkey is a nationalist, populist, statist, secular, and reformist Republic,” had been added to the by-laws of the Party in the Fourth Grand Convention that convened in 1935. With a subsequent circular letter issued in 1936, some of the functions of the state and the party were assigned to the same individuals.

The final step of the party-state integration was taken with the amendment made to the Constitution in 1937 and thus the pillars of CHP became the founding principles of the Turkish State. Criticized by some constitutional lawyers, the said article was changed with the 1961 Constitution.