Parliament (Turkey)
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The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Constitution. It was founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920 in the midst of the National Campaign. This constitution had founded its pre-government known as 1st Executive Ministers of Turkey (Commitment Deputy Committee) in May 1920. The parliament was fundamental in the efforts of '' Mareşal''
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...
, 1st
President of the Republic of Turkey The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national govern ...
, and his colleagues to found a new state out of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire.


Composition

There are 600 members of parliament (deputies) who are elected for a five-year term by the D'Hondt method, a party-list proportional representation system, from 87 electoral districts which represent the 81 administrative provinces of Turkey (Istanbul and Ankara are divided into three electoral districts whereas İzmir and Bursa are divided into two each because of its large populations). To avoid a hung parliament and its excessive political fragmentation, from 1982 to 2022 a party must have won at least 10% of the national vote to qualify for representation in the parliament, but in 2022 this was reduced to 7%. As a result of the 10% threshold, only two parties won seats in the legislature after the 2002 elections and three in 2007. The
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
elections saw every party represented in the previous parliament ejected from the chamber and parties representing 46.3% of the voter turnout were excluded from being represented in parliament. This threshold has been criticized, but a complaint with the
European Court for Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a c ...
was turned down. Independent candidates may also run and can be elected without needing a threshold.


Speaker of the parliament

A new term in the parliament began on 23 June 2015, after the June 2015 General Elections. Deniz Baykal from the CHP temporarily served as the speaker, as it is customary for the oldest member of the TBMM to serve as speaker during a hung parliament. İsmail Kahraman was elected after the snap elections on 22 November 2015.


Languages

The parliament's minutes are translated into the four languages Arabic, Russian, English and
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
but not in the Kurdish language which is the second most native language in Turkey. Though phrases in the Kurdish language can be permitted, whole speeches remain forbidden.


Members (since 1999)

* List of members of the parliament of Turkey, 1999–2002 * List of members of the parliament of Turkey, 2002–2007 * List of members of the parliament of Turkey, 2007–2011 * List of members of the parliament of Turkey, 2011–2015 * List of members of the parliament of Turkey, June to Nov, 2015 * List of members of the parliament of Turkey, 2015-2018 * List of members of the parliament of Turkey, 2018-2023


Parliamentary groups

Parties who have at least 20 deputies may form a parliamentary group. Currently there are five parliamentary groups at the GNAT: AKP, which has the highest number of seats, CHP, MHP, Good Party and HDP.


Committees


Specialized committees

#Constitution committee (26 members) #Justice committee (24 members) #National Defense committee (24 members) #Internal affairs committee (24 members) #Foreign affairs committee (24 members) #National Education, Culture, Youth and Sports committee (24 members) #Development, reconstruction, transportation and tourism committee (24 members) #Environment committee (24 members) #Health, family, employment, social works committee (24 members) #Agriculture, forestry, rural works committee (24 members) #Industry, Commerce, Energy, Natural Resources, Information and Technology Committee (24 members) #Equal Opportunity for Women and Men Committee (26 members) #Application committee (13 members) #Planning and Budget committee (39 members) #Public economic enterprises committee (35 members) #Committee on inspection of Human rights (23 members) #Security and Intelligence Committee (17 members) #European Union Harmonization Committee (21 members) (not available in Parliamentary Procedures)


Parliamentary research committees

These committees are one of auditing tools of the Parliament. The research can begin upon the demand of the Government, political party groups or min 20 MPs. The duty is assigned to a committee whose number of members, duration of work and location of work is determined by the proposal of the Parliamentary Speaker and the approval of the General Assembly.


Parliamentary investigation committees

These committees are established if any investigation demand re the president, vice president, and ministers occur and approved by the General Assembly through hidden voting.


International committees

#Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) (8 members) #Parliamentary Assembly of NATO (18 members) #The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (18 members) #Turkey – European Union Joint Parliamentary Committee (25 members) #Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Conference (5 members) #Union of Asian Parliaments (5 members) #Parliamentary Assembly of Union for the Mediterranean (7 members) #
Inter-parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; french: Union Interparlementaire, UIP) is an inter-parliamentary institution, international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and coop ...
(9 members) #Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (9 members) #Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (5 members) #Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-Speaking Countries (9 members) #Parliamentary Assembly of Economic Cooperation Organization (5 members) #Parliamentary Assembly of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (6 members) An MP can attend more than one committee if s/he is not a member of Application Committee or Planning and Budgeting Committee. Members of those committees can not participate in any other committees. On the other hand, s/he does not have to work for a committee either. Number of members of each committee is determined by the proposal of the Advisory Council and the approval of the General Assembly. Sub committees are established according to the issue that the committee receives. Only Public Economic Enterprises (PEEs) Committee has constant sub committees that are specifically responsible for a group of PEEs. Committee meetings are open to the MPs, the Ministers' Board members and the Government representatives. The MPs and the Ministers' Board members can talk in the committees but can not make amendments proposals or vote. Every MP can read the reports of the committees. NGOs can attend the committee meetings upon the invitation of the committee therefore volunteer individual or public participation is not available. Media, but not the visual media, can attend the meetings. The media representatives are usually the parliamentary staff of the media institutions. The committees can prevent the attendance of the media with a joint decision.


Current composition

The
27th Parliament of Turkey The 27th Parliament of the Turkish Republic was elected in a snap general election held on 24 June 2018 to the Grand National Assembly. It succeeded the 26th Parliament of Turkey in July 2018 and is due to last until the latter half of 2022. Th ...
took office on 7 July 2018, following the ratification of the results of the general election held on 24 June 2018. The composition of the 27th Parliament, is shown below.


Parliament Building

The current Parliament Building is the third to house the nation's parliament. The building which first housed the Parliament was converted from the Ankara headquarters of the Committee of Union and Progress. Designed by architect Hasip Bey, it was used until 1924 and is now used as the locale of the Museum of the War of Independence, the second building which housed the Parliament was designed by architect Vedat (Tek) Bey (1873–1942) and used from 1924 to 1960. It is now been converted as the Museum of the Republic. The Grand National Assembly is now housed in a modern and imposing building in the Bakanlıklar neighborhood of Ankara. The monumental building's project was designed by architect and professor Clemens Holzmeister (1886–1993). The building was depicted on the
reverse Reverse or reversing may refer to: Arts and media * ''Reverse'' (Eldritch album), 2001 * ''Reverse'' (2009 film), a Polish comedy-drama film * ''Reverse'' (2019 film), an Iranian crime-drama film * ''Reverse'' (Morandi album), 2005 * ''Reverse'' ...
of the Turkish 50,000
lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...
banknotes of 1989–1999. The building was hit by airstrikes three times during the
2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted to seize cont ...
, suffering noticeable damage. Later, the Parliament went through a revision in the summer of 2016.


History

Turkey has had a history of parliamentary government before the establishment of the current national parliament. These include attempts at curbing absolute monarchy during the Ottoman Empire through constitutional monarchy, as well as establishments of caretaker national assemblies immediately prior to the declaration of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 but after the ''de facto'' dissolution of the Ottoman Empire earlier in the decade.


Parliamentary practice before the Republican era


Ottoman Empire

There were two periods of parliamentary governance during the Ottoman Empire. The First Constitutional Era lasted for only two years, elections being held only twice. After the first elections, there were a number of criticisms of the government due to the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878 by the representatives, and the assembly was dissolved and an election called on 28 June 1877. The second assembly was also dissolved by the
Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
Abdul Hamid II Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...
on 14 February 1878, the result being the return of absolute monarchy with Abdul Hamid II in power and the suspension of the Ottoman constitution of 1876, which had come with the democratic reforms resulting in the First Constitutional Era. The Second Constitutional Era began on 23 July 1908 with the Young Turk Revolution. The constitution that was written for the first parliament included control of the sultan on the public and was removed during 1909, 1912, 1914 and 1916, in a session known as the "declaration of freedom". Most of the modern parliamentary rights that were not granted in the first constitution were granted, such as the abolition of the right of the Sultan to deport citizens that were claimed to have committed harmful activities, the establishment of a free press, a ban on censorship. Freedom to hold meetings and establish political parties was recognized, and the government was held responsible to the assembly, not to the sultan. During the two constitutional eras of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman parliament was called the
General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire The General Assembly ( tr, Meclis-i Umumî (French romanization: "Medjliss Oumoumi" ) or ''Genel Parlamento''; french: Assemblée Générale) was the first attempt at representative democracy by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire. Als ...
and was bicameral. The upper house was the Senate of the Ottoman Empire, the members of which were selected by the sultan. The role of the
Grand Vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...
, the centuries-old top ministerial office in the empire, transformed in line with other European states into one identical to the office of a prime minister, as well as that of the speaker of the Senate. The lower chamber of the General Assembly was the Chamber of Deputies of the Ottoman Empire, the members of which were elected by the general public.


Establishment of the National Assembly

After World War I, the victorious Allied Powers sought the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire through the Treaty of Sèvres. The sovereign existence of the Turkish nation was to be eliminated under these plans, except for a small region. Nationalist Turkish sentiment rose in the Anatolian peninsula, engendering the
establishment of the Turkish national movement The Turkish National Movement ( tr, Türk Ulusal Hareketi) encompasses the political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resulted in the creation and shaping of the modern Republic of Turkey, as a consequence of the defe ...
. The political developments during this period have made a lasting impact which continues to affect the character of the Turkish nation. During the Turkish War of Independence, Mustafa Kemal put forth the notion that there would be only one way for the liberation of the Turkish people in the aftermath of World War I, namely, through the creation of an independent, sovereign Turkish state. The Sultanate was abolished by the newly founded parliament in 1922, paving the way for the formal proclamation of the republic that was to come on 29 October 1923.


Transition to Ankara

Mustafa Kemal, in a speech he made on 19 March 1920 announced that "an Assembly will be gathered in Ankara that will possess extraordinary powers" and communicated how the members who would participate in the assembly would be elected and the need to realise elections, at the latest, within 15 days. He also stated that the members of the dispersed Ottoman Chamber of Deputies could also participate in the assembly in Ankara, to increase the representative power of the parliament. These elections were held as planned, in the style of the elections of the preceding Chamber of Deputies, in order to select the first members of the new Turkish assembly. This ''Grand National Assembly'', established on national sovereignty, held its inaugural session on 23 April 1920. From this date until the end of the Turkish War of Independence in 1923, the provisional government of Turkey was known as the Government of the Grand National Assembly.


Republican era


1923–1945

The first trial of multi-party politics, during the republican era, was made in 1924 by the establishment of the Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkası (Progressive Republican Party) at the request of Mustafa Kemal, which was closed after several months. Following a 6-year one-party rule, after the foundation of the Serbest Fırka (Liberal Party) by Ali Fethi Okyar, again at the request of Mustafa Kemal, in 1930, some violent disorders took place, especially in the eastern parts of the country. The Liberal Party was dissolved on 17 November 1930 and no further attempt at a multiparty democracy was made until 1945.


1945–1960

The multi-party period in Turkey was resumed by the founding of the National Development Party (''Milli Kalkınma Partisi''), by
Nuri Demirağ Nuri Demirağ (born 1886 in Divriği – died November 13, 1957 in Istanbul) was an early Turkish industrialist and politician, who was one of the first millionaires of the Turkish Republic. Biography His first enterprise was a cigarette paper ...
, in 1945. The Democrat Party was established the following year, and won the general elections of 1950; one of its leaders,
Celal Bayar Celal is both a masculine Turkish given name and a surname. It is the Turkish form of the Arabic word Jalal (جلال), which means "majesty". Notable people with the name include: Given name * Celal Al (born 1984), Turkish actor * Celal Esat Arsev ...
, becoming President of the Republic and another,
Adnan Menderes Adnan Menderes (; 1899 – 17 September 1961) was a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister of Turkey between 1950 and 1960. He was one of the founders of the Democrat Party (DP) in 1946, the fourth legal opposition party of Turkey. He ...
, Prime Minister.


1960–1980

After the a military coup on 27 May 1960, Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, President Celal Bayar, and all the ministers and members of the Assembly were arrested. The Assembly was closed. The
Committee of National Unity A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
, CNU ''(Milli Birlik Komitesi), ''assumed all the powers of the Assembly by a provisional constitution and began to run the country. Executive power was used by ministers appointed by the CNU. The members of the CNU began to work on a new and comprehensive constitution. The Constituent Assembly ''(Kurucu Meclis), ''composed of members of the CNU and the members of the House of Representatives, was established to draft a new constitution on 6 January 1961. The House of Representatives consisted of those appointed by the CNU, representatives designated by two parties of that time ( CHP and Republican Villagers National Party, RVNP), and representatives of various professional associations. The constitutional text drafted by the Constituent Assembly was presented to the voters in a referendum on 9 July 1961, and was accepted by 61.17% of the voters. The 1961 Constitution, the first prepared by a Constituent Assembly and the first to be presented to the people in a referendum, included innovations in many subjects. The 1961 Constitution stipulated a typical parliamentarian system. According to the Constitution, Parliament was bicameral. The legislative power was vested in the House of Representatives and the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. while the executive authority was vested in the President and the Council of Ministers. The Constitution envisaged a Constitutional Court. The 1961 Constitution regulated fundamental rights and freedom, including economic and social rights, over a wide spectrum and adopted the principles of a democratic social state and the rule of law. The 1961 Constitution underwent many comprehensive changes after the military memorandum of 12 March 1971, but continued to be in force until the military coup of 1980.


1980–2018

The country underwent another military coup on 12 September 1980. The Constitution was suspended and political parties were dissolved. Many politicians were forbidden from entering politics again. The military power ruling the country established a "Constituent Assembly", as had been done in 1961. The Constituent Assembly was composed of the National Security Council and the Advisory Assembly. Within two years, the new constitution was drafted and was presented to the referendum on 7 November 1982. Participation in the referendum was 91.27%. As a result, the 1982 Constitution was passed with 91.37% of the votes. The greatest change brought about by the 1982 Constitution was the unicameral parliamentary system. The number of MPs were 550 members. The executive was empowered and new and more definite limitations were introduced on fundamental rights and freedoms. Also, a 10% electoral threshold was introduced. Except for these aspects, the 1982 Constitution greatly resembled the 1961 Constitution. The 1982 Constitution, from the time it was accepted until the present time, has undergone many changes, especially the "integration laws", which have been introduced within the framework of the European Union membership process, and which has led to a fundamental evolution.


2018–present

After the 2017 constitutional referendums, the
first general election First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
of the Assembly was under a
presidential system A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separati ...
, with an executive president who has the power to renew the elections for the Assembly and vice versa. Following the referendum, the number of
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increased from 550 to 600. Furthermore, due to separation of powers, members of the
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
can't introduce laws anymore. This task is left to the parliamentarians. In line with this change, the seats for the members of the cabinet have been removed from the parliament. These seats were originally located on the left side of the Parliament Speaker. In 2022, at the initiative of the ruling AKP and its main political ally MHP, the national electoral threshold for a party to enter parliament was lowered from 10 to 7 percent. Since the elections, 5 MPs deceased, 7 MPs became ministers, 5 MPs became mayors and 2 MPs lost their memberships, 1 MP resigned.


Changes since 2018


Picture gallery

File:TBMM.jpeg, The current TBMM front facade File:Ankara asv2021-10 img73 Republic Museum.jpg, The old TBMM File:TBMM açılışı 23 Nisan 1920.jpg, Balcony of the old TBMM File:TBMM, August 2022.jpg, The General Assembly is the meeting place of the TBMM File:Atatürk is entering to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, 1936.jpg, President Atatürk entering the TBMM File:Süleyman Demirel Funeral 1.jpg, Funeral of President Demirel File:The Garden of 2nd Turkish Grand National Assembly, late 1940's (16230096284).jpg, Garden of the second TBMM File:TBMM miniaturk.JPG, A scale model of the current TBMM File:Anap Grup Başkanvekili Pertev Aşcıoğlu 1987.jpg, Discussion in the TBMM in the 1980s File:Sati Kadin at the rostrum of TBMM.jpg, Hatı Çırpan at the rostrum File:Ottoman Parliament Dec1908.jpg, The predecessor of the TBMM was the Ottoman Parliament File:SPRY(1895) p733 - THE OTTOMAN PARLIAMENT, 1877.jpg, The Ottoman Parliament in 1877


See also

*
Politics of Turkey The politics of Turkey take place in the framework of a constitutional republic and presidential system, with various levels and branches of power. Turkey's political system is based on a separation of powers. Executive power is exercised by th ...
*
Turkish order of precedence The Turkish order of precedence, the following is the list of ''Turkish order of precedence'' approved by the President of Turkey and administered by the Directorate of Protocols of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is a hierarchy of official ...
*
Women in Turkish politics Women in Turkey have an active participation in national politics, and the number of women in the Turkish parliament has been increasing steadily in recent elections. Background The Republic of Turkey was founded on the ashes of the Otto ...
*
List of political parties in Turkey Turkey is a presidential republic with a multi-party system. Major parties are defined as political parties that received more than 7% of the votes in the latest general election and/or represented in parliament. Minor parties are defined as polit ...
* National Sovereignty and Children's Day * List of legislatures by country


Notes


References


Citations


Sources

* *


External links


The official site of the Grand National Assembly
including som


Photo of TBMM (High-Resolution)


{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand National Assembly of Turkey Turkey Turkey Articles containing video clips 1920 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Politics of Turkey Parliaments by country