1987 Turkish constitutional referendum
constitutional referendum
A constitutional referendum was held in Turkey on 6 September 1987 to amend temporary article 4 of the constitution, which had forbidden the leaders of banned parties (a total of 242 people) from taking part in politics for ten years. The governing Motherland Party (ANAP) agreed to the referendum after a compromise was struck with opposition parties regarding constitutional changes. ANAP campaigned for the "No" vote, while most opposition parties campaigned for the "Yes" vote. The changes were narrowly approved by 50.2% of voters, with a 93.6% turnout.
Campaign
Temporary article 4 of the Turkish constitution was introduced following the 12 September 1980 coup d'état, which saw the outlawing of several political parties. The article forbade 242 people – the leaders of the banned political parties – from being involved in politics for ten years. The referendum was the result of negotiations between the governing Motherland Party (ANAP) and opposition parties.
In the referendum, "Yes" voters used the color blue as their symbol, while "No" voters used orange. The "Blue Color Yes" (Turkish: Mavi Renkli Evet) campaign was led by four party leaders who had been restricted by temporary article 4, from the True Path Party, Democratic Left Party, Nationalist Task Party, and Welfare Party. These parties supported the "Yes" campaign, as did the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP), despite it not having had any leaders who were affected by temporary article 4.
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