Turkish Constitution of 1961

The 1961 Constitution of Turkey was the fundamental governing document adopted after the military coup of 1960, replacing the 1924 constitution. It was approved by national referendum on 9 July 1961 with 61.7 percent voting in favor, and declared Turkey a nationalistic, democratic, secular and social state governed by the rule of law and based on human rights. Among its structural innovations, it introduced a bicameral Grand National Assembly composed of a National Assembly and a Senate, and gave individual freedoms and social rights a prominence they had not held in earlier Turkish constitutional texts. The 1961 constitution remained in force until 1982, when it was superseded following a further military coup the previous year.