Erdogan wants new constitution by 2012

ANKARA, Turkey, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the government is working on a new constitution to replace the one created under martial law.

"We will concentrate on this issue (of making a new constitution) with the opening of Parliament (on Saturday). We hope to be done with this issue in the first half of 2012," Erdogan told reporters Thursday in Ankara.

Erdogan said the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, BDP, will be included in constitutional discussions if they form a parliamentary group, Today's Zaman reported.

The BDP has just announced an end to its parliamentary boycott.

Turkey's existing constitution, which was drafted under martial law after the 1980 military coup, has been criticized for failing to respond to the need for broader rights and freedoms, the newspaper said.