The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

Turkish

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the

Turkish Constitution The Constitution of Turkey, formally known as the Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye (), and informally as the Constitution of 1982 (), is Turkey's fundamental law. It establishes the organization of the government, and sets out the pr ...

. It was founded in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

on 23 April 1920 amid 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 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

, 1st President of the Republic of Turkey, and his colleagues to found a new government out of the remnants of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Composition

There are 600 members of parliament (deputies) who are elected for a five-year term by the

D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is an apportionment method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in proportional representation among political parties. It belongs to ...

, a

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a system of proportional representation based on preregistered Political party, political parties, with each party being Apportionment (politics), allocated a certain number of seats Apportionm ...

system, from 87 electoral districts which represent the 81 administrative

provinces of Turkey Turkey is divided into 81 provinces (). Each province is divided into a number of districts of Turkey, districts (). Each provincial government is seated in the central district (). For non-Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan munic ...

(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 A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system (typically employing Majoritarian representation, majoritarian electoral systems) to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing ...

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 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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 (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

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 2 June 2023, after the 2023 general election.

Devlet Bahçeli Devlet Bahçeli (born 1 January 1948) is a Turkish people, Turkish politician, economist, former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, deputy prime minister, and current chairman of the Far-right politics, far-right, Ultranationalism, ultranationa ...

MHP temporarily served as the speaker, as it is customary for the oldest member of the TBMM to serve as speaker during a hung parliament.

Numan Kurtulmuş Numan Kurtulmuş (born 15 September 1959) is a Turkish politician and academic who is currently the speaker of the Grand National Assembly. He served as Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey in the 62nd, 63rd, 64th and 65th AKP governments between ...

was elected after the snap elections on 7 June 2023.

Languages

The parliament's minutes are translated into the four languages:

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, English and French, but not in the

Kurdish language Kurdish (, , ) is a Northwestern Iranian languages, Northwestern Iranian language or dialect continuum, group of languages spoken by Kurds in the region of Kurdistan, namely in southeast Turkish Kurdistan, Turkey, northern Iraqi Kurdistan, Ira ...

which is the second most spoken native language in Turkey. Though phrases in the Kurdish language can be permitted, whole speeches remain forbidden.

Members (since 1999)

* Members elected in 1999 (21st Parliament) * Members elected in 2002 (22nd Parliament) * Members elected in 2007 (23rd Parliament) * Members elected in 2011 (24th Parliament) * Members elected in June 2015 (25th Parliament) * Members elected in November 2015 (26th Parliament) * Members elected in 2018 (27th Parliament) * Members elected in 2023 (28th Parliament)

Parliamentary groups

Parties who have at least 20 deputies may form a parliamentary group. Currently there are six parliamentary groups at the GNAT:

AK Party The Justice and Development Party ( , AK PARTİ), abbreviated officially as AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democratic. It has been the ruling party of Turkey since 2002. Third-party sources ...

, which has the highest number of seats, CHP, MHP,

Good Party The Good Party (Turkish language, Turkish: ''İYİ Parti'') is a Turkish nationalism, nationalist, Kemalism, Kemalist and Conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, established on 25 October 2017 b ...

, DEM, and

New Path The New Path (YY; ) is a Turkish political party that was founded by the Felicity Party (SP), Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) and the Future Party (GP) to create a joint parliamentary group. The party's chairman is Celal Mümtaz Akıncı, ...

Committees

Specialized committees

#Justice Committee (27 members) #Constitution Committee (26 members) #Committee for Harmonization with the European Union (27 members) #Public Works, Zoning, Transportation, and Tourism Committee (26 members) #Environment Committee (26 members) #Foreign Affairs Committee (25 members) #Digital Media Committee (17 members) #Petitions Committee (12 members) #Security and Intelligence Committee (17 members) #Internal Affairs Committee (26 members) #Committee for the Inspection of Human Rights (25 members) ##Subcommittee for the Inspection of Islamophobia and Racism (10 members) ##Subcommittee for the Inspection of the Rights of Convicts and Detainees ##Migration and Integration Subcommittee (10 members) ##Children's Rights Subcommittee (10 members) #Committee for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (26 members) #State-owned Enterprises Committee (35 members) #National Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports committee (26 members) #National Defense Committee (26 members) #Planning and Budgeting Committee (30 members) #Health, Family, Employment, and Social Affairs Committee (27 members) #Industry, Commerce, Energy, Natural Resources, Information, and Technology Committee (26 members) #Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Works Committee (26 members)

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 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE (OSCE PA) is an institution of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The primary task of the 323-member Assembly is to facilitate inter-parliamentary dialogue, an important aspect of the o ...

(8 members) #

NATO Parliamentary Assembly The NATO Parliamentary Assembly serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It consists of delegates from the parliaments of the 32 NATO member countries as well as from associate ...

(18 members) #

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

(18 members) #Turkey — European Union Joint Parliamentary Committee (25 members) # Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (5 members) # Asian Parliamentary Assembly (5 members) # Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (7 members) #

Inter-parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...

(9 members) # Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (9 members) #

Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) is an international organization established in 2005 by the national parliaments of the countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region. It is the legal successor of the Conference on Security and ...

(5 members) # Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (9 members) #Parliamentary Assembly of the

Economic Cooperation Organization The Economic Cooperation Organization or ECO is a Eurasian political and economic intergovernmental organization that was founded in 1985 in Tehran by the leaders of Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. It provides a platform to discuss ways to improve ...

(5 members) #Parliamentary Assembly of the

Southeast European Cooperation Process The South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) was launched on Bulgaria's initiative in 1996. At the Bulgaria-chaired meeting in Sofia, the Southeast Europe (SEE) countries laid the foundations for regional co-operation for the purposes of c ...

(6 members) #

Andean Parliament The Andean Parliament is the governing and deliberative body of the Andean Community, conformed by representatives of its four member states Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and one associate member, Chile. It is composed of 25 parliamentari ...

(observer) (3 members) #

Latin American Parliament The Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (''Parlatino'') is a regional, permanent organisation bringing together parliamentarians from Latin America and the Caribbean. It is a consultative assembly made up of national parliamentarians, simil ...

(observer) (3 members) MPs can attend more than one committee if not a member of Petitions Committee or Planning and Budgeting Committee. Members of those committees can not participate in any other committees. On the other hand, MPs do 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 State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) Committee has constant sub committees that are specifically responsible for a group of SOEs. 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

28th Parliament of Turkey The 28th Parliament of Turkey was elected at the 2023 Turkish parliamentary election. It succeeded the 27th Parliament of Turkey in May 2023. The Member of Parliament#Turkey, 600 members, elected through proportional representation from Electoral ...

took office on 2 June 2023, following the ratification of the results of the general election held on 14 May 2023. The composition of the 28th 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 The Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, also translated as the Society of Union and Progress; , French language, French: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, secret society, and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 ...

. 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 Clemens Holzmeister (27 March 1886 – 12 June 1983) was a prominent Austrian architect and stage designer of the early twentieth century. The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austrian Academy of Fine Arts listed his life's work as containing 673 pro ...

(1886–1993). The building was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 50,000

lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current Turkish lira, currency of Turkey and also the local name of the Lebanese pound, currencies of Lebanon and of Syrian pound, Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, ...

banknotes of 1989–1999. The building was hit by airstrikes three times during the

2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt In the evening of 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 ...

, suffering noticeable damage. It went through a renovation 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

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

. The

First Constitutional Era The First Constitutional Era (; ) of the Ottoman Empire was the period of constitutional monarchy from the promulgation of the Ottoman constitution of 1876 (, , meaning ' Basic Law' or 'Fundamental Law' in Ottoman Turkish), written by members ...

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 (; ', ) 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 came to be use ...

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

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 The Constitution of the Ottoman Empire (; ) was in effect from 1876 to 1878 in a period known as the First Constitutional Era, and from 1908 to 1922 in the Second Constitutional Era. The first and only constitution of the Ottoman Empire, it was ...

, which had come with the democratic reforms resulting in the First Constitutional Era. The

Second Constitutional Era The Second Constitutional Era (; ) was the period of restored parliamentary rule in the Ottoman Empire between the 1908 Young Turk Revolution and the 1920 retraction of the constitution, after the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies, during the ...

began on 23 July 1908 with the

Young Turk Revolution The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908; ) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. Revolutionaries belonging to the Internal Committee of Union and Progress, an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II ...

. 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 (; French romanization: "Medjliss Oumoumi" or ''Genel Parlamento''; ) was the first attempt at representative democracy by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire. Also known as the Ottoman Parliament ('' Legislation o ...

and was bicameral. The upper house was the

Senate of the Ottoman Empire The Senate of the Ottoman Empire (, or ; ; lit. "Assembly of Notables"; ) was the upper house of the parliament of the Ottoman Empire, the General Assembly. Its members were appointed notables in the Ottoman government who, along with the electe ...

, the members of which were selected by the sultan. The role of the

Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

, 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 A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, as well as that of the

speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the victorious Allied Powers sought the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire through the

Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres () was a 1920 treaty signed between some of the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire, but not ratified. The treaty would have required the cession of large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, ...

. 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 (), also known as the Anatolian Movement (), the Nationalist Movement (), and the Kemalists (, ''Kemalciler'' or ''Kemalistler''), included political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resu ...

. 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 , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

Mustafa Kemal Mustafa () is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Moustafa * Moustafa A ...

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

, 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

in 1923, the provisional government of Turkey was known as the

Government of the Grand National Assembly The Government of the Grand National Assembly (), self-identified as the State of Turkey () or Turkey (), commonly known as the Ankara Government (), or archaically the Angora Government, was the provisional and revolutionary Turkish government ba ...

Republican era

1923–1945

Ankara asv2021-10 img45 Cumhuriyet Street on 29Oct

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 Ali Fethi Okyar (29 April 1880 – 7 May 1943) was a Turkish diplomat and politician, who also served as a military officer and diplomat during the last decade of the Ottoman Empire. He was also the second Prime Minister of Turkey (1924–1925) a ...

, 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 In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional r ...

was made until 1945.

1945–1960

The multi-party period in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

was resumed by the founding of the National Development Party (''Milli Kalkınma Partisi''), by

Nuri Demirağ Nuri Demirağ (1886 in Divriği – 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 facto ...

, 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 Adan (b ...

, becoming

President of the Republic The President of the Republic is a title used for heads of state and/or heads of government in countries having republican form of government. Designation In most cases the president of a republic is elected, either: * by direct universal s ...

and another,

Adnan Menderes Ali Adnan Ertekin 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 ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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, 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 A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

. 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 The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

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 The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

membership process, and which has led to a fundamental evolution.

2018–present

After the 2017 constitutional referendums, the first general election of the Assembly was under a

presidential system A presidential, strong-president, or single-executive system (sometimes also congressional system) is a form of government in which a head of government (usually titled " president") heads an executive branch that derives its authority and l ...

, with an

executive president An executive president is the head of state who exercises authority over the governance of that state, and can be found in presidential, semi-presidential, and parliamentary systems. They contrast with figurehead presidents, common in most parlia ...

who has the power to renew the elections for the Assembly and vice versa. Following the referendum, the number of MPs increased from 550 to 600. Furthermore, due to

separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...

, 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 * Filin ...

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

and its main political ally MHP, the national

for a party to enter parliament was lowered from 10 to 7 percent.

Changes since 2023

Historical composition

Single-party period

Beginning of the multi-party period

After the 1960 coup

After the 1980 coup

After the 2002 election

List of foreign leaders addressing the Turkish Parliament

Barack Obama addresses Turkish Parliament 4-6-09 1

The General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly hosts foreign dignitaries from time to time. However, the protocol here may vary depending on the situation. For the foreign guest to make a speech a decision of the General Assembly is required.

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 Hatı Çırpan (formerly Satı Kadın, 1890 – March 21, 1956) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, one of the first Women in Turkish politics, female members of the parliament in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, elected in the 1935 T ...

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

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

Articles containing video clips 1920 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Politics of Turkey Parliaments by country