Constitution of TurkeyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"Turkish constitution" redirects here. For other uses, see Turkish constitution (disambiguation).

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The Constitution of the Republic of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Anayasası), also known as the Constitution of 1982, is Turkey's fundamental law. It establishes the organisation of the government and sets out the principles and rules of the state's conduct along with its responsibilities towards its citizens. The constitution also establishes the rights and responsibilities of the latter while setting the guidelines for the delegation and exercise of sovereignty that belongs to the Turkish people.

The constitution was ratified on 7 November 1982. It replaced the earlier Constitution of 1961. The constitution was amended seventeen times, two of them through a referendum: 2007, 2010, one of them partly through referendum: 1987. Overall, 113 of the 177 articles of the Constitution of 1982 were amended.[1]

Contents  [hide] 

1History 2Overview

o 2.1Part One: Founding principleso 2.2Part Two: Individual and Group Rights

2.2.1Equality of citizens 2.2.2Freedom of expression 2.2.3Group rights

o 2.3Part Three: Fundamental Organs 2.3.1Legislative Power 2.3.2Judiciary 2.3.3Executive

2.3.3.1National securityo 2.4Revision

3Critiqueo 3.1Ethnic rightso 3.2Freedom of expressiono 3.3Influence of the military

4See also 5References 6Sources 7External links

History[edit]

Main article: Constitutional History of Turkey

The first constitution of the Ottoman Empire was adopted in 1876 and revised in 1908.

Since its founding, the modern Turkish state has been governed under four documents:

The Constitution of 1921, The Constitution of 1924, The Constitution of 1961, and, The current Constitution of 1982.

The current constitution was ratified by popular referendum during the military junta of 1980-1983. Since its ratification in 1982, the current constitution has overseen many important events and changes in the Republic of Turkey, and it has been modified many times to keep up with global and regional geopolitical conjunctures. It was last amended in 2010.[2]

Overview[edit]

Part One: Founding principles[edit]The Constitution asserts that Turkey is a secular (2.1) and democratic (2.1), republic (1.1) that derives its sovereignty (6.1) from the people. The sovereignty rests with the Turkish Nation, who delegates its exercise to an elected unicameral parliament, the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

Seal of the Assembly

The Article 4 declares the immovability of the founding principles of the Republic defined in the first three Articles and bans any proposals for their modification. The preamble also invokes the principles of nationalism, defined as the "material and spiritual well-being of the Republic". The basic nature of Turkey is laïcité (2), social equality (2), equality before law (10), the Republican form of government (1), the indivisibility of the Republic and of the Turkish Nation (3.1)." Thus, it sets out to found a unitary nation-statebased on the principles of secular democracy.

Fundamental Aims and Duties of the State is defined in Article 5. Constitution establishes a separation of powers between the Legislative Power (7.1), Executive Power (8.1), and Judicial Power (9.1) of the state. The separation of powers between the legislative and theexecutive is a loose one, whereas the one between the executive and the legislative with the judiciary is a strict one.

Part Two: Individual and Group Rights[edit]Further information: Human rights in Turkey

Part Two of the constitution is the bill of rights. Article Twelve guarantees "fundamental rights and freedoms", which are defined as including the:

Article 17 : Personal Inviolability, Material and Spiritual Entity of the Individual (right to life) Article 18 : Prohibition of Forced Labour Article 19 : Personal Liberty and Security (security of person) Article 20 : Privacy of Individual Life Article 21 : Inviolability of the Domicile Article 22 : Freedom of Communication Article 23 : Freedom of Residence and Movement Article 24 : Freedom of Religion and Conscience Article 25 : Freedom of Thought and Opinion Article 26 : Freedom of Expression and Dissemination of Thought Article 27 : Freedom of Science and the Arts Article 35 : Right to property

Article Five of the Constitution sets out the raison d'être of the Turkish state, namely "to provide the conditions required for the development of the individual’s material and spiritual existence".

Many of these entrenched rights have their basis in international bills of rights, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Turkey was one of the first nations to ratify in December 1948.[3]

Equality of citizens[edit]Besides the provisions establishing Turkey as a secular state, Article 10 goes further with regards to equality of its citizens by prohibiting any discrimination based on their "language, race, color, sex, political opinion, philosophical convictions or religious beliefs" and guaranteeing their equality in the eyes of the law. Borrowing from the French Revolutionary ideals of the nation and the Republic, Article 3 affirms that "The Turkish State, with its territory and nation, is an indivisible entity. Its language is Turkish". Article 66 defines a Turkish civic identity: "everyone bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship is a Turk".

Freedom of expression[edit]Article 26 establishes freedom of expression and Articles 27 and 28 the freedom of the press, while Articles 33 and 34 affirm the freedom of association and freedom of assembly, respectively.

Group rights[edit]Classes are considered irrelevant in legal terms (A10). The Constitution affirms the right of workers to form labor unions "without obtaining permission" and "to possess the right to become a member of a union and to freely withdraw from membership" (A51). Articles 53 and 54 affirm the right of workers to bargain collectively and to strike, respectively.

Part Three: Fundamental Organs[edit]Legislative Power[edit]Article Seven provides for the establishment of a unicameral parliament as the sole organ of expression of sovereign people. Article Six of the Constitution affirms that "sovereignty is vested fully and unconditionally in the nation" and that "the Turkish Nation shall exercise its sovereignty through the authorised organs as prescribed by the principles laid down in the Constitution". The same article also rules out the delegation of sovereignty "to any individual, group or class" and affirms that "no person or agency shall exercise any state authority which does not emanate from the Constitution".

Article 80 (A80) affirms the principle of national sovereignty: "members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly represent, not merely their own constituencies or constituents, but the Nation as a whole".

Part Three, Chapter One (Articles 75-100) sets the rules for the election and functioning of the Turkish Grand National Assembly as the legislative organ, as well as the conditions of eligibility (A76), parliamentary immunity (A83) and general legislative procedures to be followed. Per Articles 87 and 88, both the government and the parliament can propose laws, however it is only the parliament that has the power to enact laws (A87) and ratify treaties of the Republic with other sovereign states (A90).

The President of the Republic is elected by the parliament and has a largely ceremonial role as the Head of State, "representing the Republic of Turkey and the unity of the Turkish Nation" (A104).

See also: Politics of Turkey, Grand National Assembly of Turkey, President of Turkey, Prime Minister of Turkey and Council of Ministers of Turkey

Judiciary[edit]Article Nine affirms that the "judicial power shall be exercised by independent courts on behalf of the Turkish Nation". Part Four provides the rules relating to their functioning and guarantees their full independence (A137-140). The judiciary conforms to the principle of separation of powers not only through its independence from the executive andlegislative branches of government but by being divided into two entities, Administrative Justice and Judicial Justice, with the Danıştay (The Council of State) the highest court for the former (A155) and Yargıtay (High Court of Appeals) the highest court for the latter (154).

Part Four, Section Two allows for a Constitutional Court that rules on the conformity of laws and governmental decrees to the Constitution. It may hear cases referred by the President of the Republic, the government, the members of Parliament (A150) or any judge before whom a constitutional issue has been raised by a defendant or a plaintiff(A152). The Constitutional Court has the right to both a priori and a posteriori review, and can invalidate whole laws or decrees and ban their application for all future cases (A153).

See also: Legal system of the Republic of Turkey and Constitutional Court of Turkey

Executive[edit]Per Article Eight, the executive power is vested in the President of the Republic and the Council of Ministers. Part Three, Chapter One, Section Two (Articles 109-116) lays out the rules for the confirmation and functioning of the government as the executive comprising the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers (A109).

Part Three, Chapter Two, Section Four organizes the functioning of the central administration and certain important institutions of the Republic such as its universities (A130-132), local administrations (A127), fundamental public services (A128) and national security (A117-118). Article 123 stipulates that "the organisation and functions of the administration are based on the principles of centralization and local administration".

National security[edit]The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) are subordinate to the President, in the capacity of Commander-in-Chief. The Chief of General Staff of the TAF is responsible to the Prime Minister in the exercise of his functions, and the latter is responsible, along with the rest of the Council of Ministers, before the parliament (A117).

National Security Council is an advisory organization, comprising the Chief of General Staff and the four main Commanders of the TAF and select members of the Council of Ministers, to develop the "national security policy of the state" (A118).

Revision[edit]

In Article 175, it also sets out the procedure of its own revision and amendment by either referendum or a qualified majority vote of 2/3 in the National Assembly. It does not recognize the right to popular initiatives: Only the members of Parliament can propose modifications to the Constitution.

A revision of the Constitution was approved on September 13, 2010 by a 58 percent approval given by the 39 million people who voted. The change would allow the National Assembly to appoint a number of high-court judges, would reduce the power of the military court system over the civilian population and would improve human rights. The changes also remove the immunity from prosecution the former leaders of the early 1980s military coup gave themselves. [4]

Critique[edit]

Ethnic rights[edit]The Constitution of 1982 has been criticized as limiting individual cultural and political liberties in comparison with the previous constitution of 1961. Critics claim that the constitution denies the fundamental rights of the Kurdish population because the constitution does not make a distinction between Turks and Kurds.[who?] Per the Treaty of Lausanne which established the Turkish Republic, legally, the only minorities are Greeks, Armenians and Jews, which also have certain privileges not recognized to other ethnic communities, per the treaty. Article Three, implicitly, and Article Ten, explicitly, ban (in the spirit of Turkishness based on citizenship rather than ethnicity mentioned above) the division of the Turkish Nation into sub-entities and the referral to ethnic groups in law as being separate from the rest of the Turkish Nation because of the principle of indivisibility of the nation. This principle of indivisibility is contained in the Article One of the Constitution of France (ratified in 1958), as well.

Article Three states that the official language of the Republic of Turkey is Turkish. The Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published its third report on Turkey in February 2005. The commission has taken the position that the parliament should revise Article 42 of the Constitution, which prohibits the teaching of any language other than Turkish as a first language in schools.[5] The Turkish constitutional principle of not allowing the teaching of other languages as first languages in schools to its citizens, other than the official one, is similar to the policies of Germany, France and Austria, all members of the European Union.[citation needed] Since 2003, private courses teaching minority languages can be offered, but the curriculum, appointment of teachers, and criteria for enrollment are subject to significant restrictions. All private Kurdish courses were closed down in 2005 because of bureaucratic barriers and the reluctance of Kurds to have to "pay to learn their mother tongue."[6]

Currently Circassian, Kurdish, Zaza, Laz languages can be chosen as lessons in public schools.[7][8][9]

Freedom of expression[edit]The constitution grants freedom of expression, as declared in Article 26. Article 301 of the Turkish penal code states that "A person who publicly denigrates the Turkish Nation, the Republic or the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months and three years" and also that "Expressions of thought intended to criticise shall not constitute a crime".

Orhan Pamuk's remark "One million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in these lands, and nobody but me dares talk about it." was considered by some to be a violation of Article 10 of the Constitution and led to his trial in 2005. The complaint against Orhan Pamuk was made by a group of lawyers led by Kemal Kerinçsiz  and charges filed by a district prosecutor under the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. Pamuk was later released and charges annulled by the justice ministry on a technicality. The same group of lawyers have also filed complaints against other lesser-known

authors on the same grounds. Kerinçsiz was indicted in the 2008 Ergenekon investigation , along with many others.

Influence of the military[edit]The constitution is also criticised for giving the Turkish Armed Forces, who see themselves as the guardians of the secular and unitary nature of the Republic along with Atatürk's reforms , too much influence in political affairs via the National Security Council.[citation needed]

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Politics of TurkeyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008)

Turkey

This article is part of a series on the

politics and government of

Turkey

Constitution [hide]

History

Secularism

Legislature [hide]

Grand National Assembly

Speaker: İsmail Kahraman

Leader of the Main Opposition

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu

Executive [hide]

President  (list)

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Prime Minister  (list)

Ahmet Davutoğlu

Cabinet

Current cabinet (63rd)

Ministries

National Security Council

Governors

Judiciary [hide]

Constitutional Court

Council of State

Court of Cassation

Court of Accounts

Elections [hide]

Electoral system

Electoral cycle

Supreme Electoral Council

Recent elections

Presidential

2000

2007

2014

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2011

Jun 2015

Nov 2015

Municipal

2004

2009

2014

Political parties

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The politics of Turkey takes place in a framework of a secular parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby thePrime Minister of Turkey is the head of government,and the President of Turkey is the head of state who holds a largely ceremonial role with substantial reserve powers.

Turkey's political system is based on a society of powers. Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers. Legislative power is vested in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Its currentconstitution was adopted on 7 November 1982 after the Turkish constitutional referendum.

Contents  [hide] 

1Executive 2Parliament 3Judiciary 4Political principles of importance in Turkey 5Political parties and elections 6Military involvement in politics 7See also 8References

Executive[edit]

The function of head of state is performed by the president (Cumhurbaşkanı). A president is elected every five years on the principle of universal suffrage according to the current constitution. The president does not have to be a member of parliament, but he/she must be over 40 years old and hold a bachelor's degree. The current president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan  was Directly elected in 2014. Executive power rests with the president, the prime minister (Başbakan) and the Council of Ministers. The ministers don't have to be members of Parliament (a recent example is Kemal Derviş). The prime minister is appointed by the president and approved through a vote of confidence (güvenoyu) in the parliament. The prime minister is Ahmet Davutoğlu , whose Justice and Development Party, which is often termed "conservative" but is in fact better termed "faith-based", won a plurality of parliamentary seats in the November 2015 general elections.

Parliament[edit]

Legislative power is invested in the 550-seat Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi), representing 81 provinces. The members are elected for a four-year term by mitigated proportional representation with an election threshold of 10%. To be represented in Parliament, a party must win at least 10% of the national vote in a national parliamentary election. Independent candidates may run, and to be elected, they must only win 10% of the vote in the province from which they are running. The threshold is set to be reduced. [1]

The current Speaker of the Parliament is İsmail Kahraman .

Judiciary[edit]Main article: Legal system of the Republic of Turkey

The freedom and independence of the Judicial System is protected within the constitution. There is no organization, person, or institution which can interfere in the running of the courts, and the executive and legislative structures must obey the courts' decisions. The courts, which are independent in discharging their duties, must explain each ruling on the basis of the provisions of the Constitution, the laws, jurisprudence, and their personal convictions.

The Judicial system is highly structured. Turkish courts have no jury system; judges render decisions after establishing the facts in each case based on evidence presented by lawyers and prosecutors. For minor civil complaints and offenses, justices of the peace take the case. This court has a single judge. It has jurisdiction over misdemeanors and petty crimes, with penalties ranging from small fines to brief prison sentences. Three-judge courts of first instance have jurisdiction over major civil suits and serious crimes. Any conviction in a criminal case can be taken to a court of Appeals for judicial review.

All courts are open to the public. When a case is closed to the public, the court has to declare the reason. Judge and prosecution structures are secured by the constitution. Except with their own consent, no judge or prosecutor can be dismissed, have his/her powers restricted, or be forced to retire. However, the retirement age restrictions do apply. The child courts have their own structure.

A judge can be audited for misconduct only with the Ministry of Justice's permission, in which case a special task force of justice experts and senior judges is formed.

The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) is the principal body charged with responsibility for ensuring judicial integrity, and determines professional judges acceptance and court assignments. Minister of justice, Sadullah Ergin  is the natural head of the Council according to the current constitution.

Turkey adopted a new national "Judicial Networking System" (UYAP). The court decisions and documents (case info, expert reports, etc.) will be accessible via the Internet.

Turkey accepts the European Court of Human Rights' decisions as a higher court decision. Turkey also accepts as legally binding any decisions on international agreements.

There are several supreme courts with different subjects:

Yargıtay acts as the supreme court of judiciary tribunals (criminal and civil justice). Danıştay is the highest of administrative courts. Anayasa Mahkemesi  examines the constitutionality of laws, decrees having the force of law (decret-loi), changes of parliamentary by-laws and several other acts of the parliament. Sayıştay (Court of Accounts) is the court which examines the incomes and expenses of the administrative bodies and which acts in the name of parliament. The Military Court of Cassation (Askeri Yargıtay) and The Military High Court of Administration (or the Supreme Military Administrative Court) (Askeri Yüksek İdare Mahkemesi) are the highest bodies to which appeals of decisions of military courts are to be made.

Political principles of importance in Turkey[edit]

The Turkish Constitution and most mainstream political parties are built on the following principles:

Kemalism Secularism Modernization

Other political ideas have also influenced Turkish politics and modern history. Of particular importance are:

Neo-liberalism Pan-Turkism Socialism Communism Nationalism Islamism

These principles are the continuum around which various – and often rapidly changing – political parties and groups have campaigned (and sometimes fought). On a superficial level, the importance which state officials attach to these principles and their posts can be seen in their response to breaches of protocol in official ceremonies.[2]

Political parties and elections[edit]For other political parties see List of political parties in Turkey. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Turkey.

Since 1950, parliamentary politics has been dominated by conservative parties. Even the ruling AK Party, although its core cadres come from the Islamist current, tends to identify itself with the "tradition" of the Democratic Party (DP). The leftist parties, the most notable of which is the Republican People's Party (CHP), with a stable electorate, draw much of their support from big cities, coastal regions, professional middle-class, and minority groups such as Alevis.

Military involvement in politics[edit]See also: Deep state

Since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded the modern secular Republic of Turkey in 1923, the Turkish military has perceived itself as the guardian of Atatürkçülük, the official state ideology. The TAF still maintains an important degree of influence over Turkish politics and the decision making process regarding issues related to Turkish national security, albeit decreased in the past decades, via the National Security Council.

The military has had a record of intervening in politics. Indeed, it assumed power for several periods in the latter half of the 20th century. It executed coups d'état in 1960, in 1971, and in 1980. Most recently, it maneuvered the removal of an Islamic-oriented prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan , in 1997.[3]

On 27 April 2007, in advance of 4 November 2007 presidential election, and in reaction to the politics of Abdullah Gül, who has a past record of involvement in Islamist political movements and banned Islamist parties such as the Welfare Party, the army issued a statement of its interests. It said that the army is a party to "arguments" regardingsecularism; that Islamism ran counter to the secular nature of the Turkish Republic, and to the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The Army's statement ended with a clear warning that the Turkish Armed Forces stood ready to intervene if the secular nature of the Turkish Constitution is compromised, stating that "the Turkish Armed Forces maintain their sound determination to carry out their duties stemming from laws to protect the

unchangeable characteristics of the Republic of Turkey. Their loyalty to this determination is absolute."[4]

Contrary to outsider expectations, the Turkish populace is not uniformly averse to coups; many welcome the ejection of governments they perceive as unconstitutional.[5][6]Members of the military must also comply with the traditions of secularism, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom report in 2008, members who performed prayers or had wives who wore the headscarf, have been charged with “lack of discipline”.[7]

Paradoxically, the military has both been an important force in Turkey's continuous Westernization but at the same time also represents an obstacle for Turkey's desire to join the EU. At the same time, the military enjoys a high degree of popular legitimacy, with continuous opinion polls suggesting that the military is the state institution that the Turkish people trust the most.[8]

Over a hundred people, including several generals, have been detained or questioned since July 2008 with respect to Ergenekon, an alleged clandestine, ultra-nationalist [9] organization with ties to members of the country's military and security forces.[10] The group is accused of terrorism in Turkey.[11] [12]

On 22 February 2010 more than 40 officers arrested and then were formally charged with attempting to overthrow the government with respect to alleged "Sledgehammer" plot . They include four admirals, a general and two colonels, some of them retired, including former commanders of the Turkish navy and air force (three days later, the former commanders of the navy and air force were released).[13]

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Grand National Assembly of TurkeyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Grand National Assembly of TurkeyTürkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi

26th Parliament of Turkey

Type

Type Unicameral

Leadership

Speaker İsmail Kahraman (Ak Parti )

since November 22, 2015

Deputy Speakers Ahmet Aydın (Ak Parti )

Ayşe Nur Bahçekapılı (Ak Parti )

Akif Hamzaçebi (CHP)

Pervin Buldan (HDP)

since November 1, 2015

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu (Ak Parti )

since August 28, 2014

Leader of the Opposition Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (CHP)

since May 22, 2010

Structure

Seats 550

Political groups Government (317)

      Ak Parti  (317)

Main Opposition

      CHP (134)

Other Opposition

      HDP (59)

      MHP (40)

Elections

Voting system Party-list proportional representation

D'Hondt method

Last election 1 November 2015

Next election 2019

Meeting place

Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Ministries

Ankara, 06543

Turkey

Website

Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Turkey

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The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi), usually referred to simply as the TBMM orParliament (Turkish: Meclis), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by theTurkish Constitution. It was founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920 in the midst of the Turkish War of Independence. The parliament was fundamental in the efforts of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his colleagues to found a new state out of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I.

Contents  [hide] 

1Historyo 1.1Parliamentary practice before the Republican era

1.1.1Ottoman Empire 1.1.2Establishment of the national Parliament 1.1.3Transition to Ankara

o 1.2Republican era 1.2.11923–1945 1.2.21945–present

1.2.2.11945–1980 1.2.2.21980–present

2Compositiono 2.1Speaker of the parliamento 2.2Members (since 1999)

o 2.3Parliamentary groupso 2.4Committees

2.4.1Specialized committees 2.4.2Parliamentary Research Committees 2.4.3Parliamentary Investigation committees 2.4.4International Committees

3Current composition 4Parliament building 5See also 6Notes 7References 8External links

History[edit]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2015)

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[edit]Ottoman Empire[edit]Main articles: General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire, First Constitutional Era (Ottoman Empire) and Second Constitutional Era (Ottoman Empire)

There were two parliamentary governments during the Ottoman period in what is now Turkey. 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 Abdülhamid II  on 14 February 1878, the result being the return of absolute monarchy with Abdülhamid 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 is considered to have begun on 23 July 1908. 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 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, 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 Parliament[edit]

President Atatürk and his colleagues leaving the building of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (today the

Museum of the Republic) after a meeting for the seventh anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of

Turkey (1930).

Main article: Establishment of Turkish national movement

After World War I, the victorious Allied Powers sought the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire through the Treaty of Sèvres.[1] The political existence of the Turkish nation was to be completely 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 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[edit]Main article: Government of the Grand National Assembly

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[edit]1923–1945[edit]Main article: Single-party period of the Republic of Turkey

Eighteen female deputies joined theTurkish Parliament with the 1935 general elections

The first trial of multi-party politics, during the republican era, was made in 1924 by the establishment of the Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkası 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 amultiparty democracy was made until 1945.

1945–present[edit]Main article: Multi-party period of the Republic of Turkey

The multi-party period in Turkey was resumed by the founding of the National Development Party (Milli Kalkınma Partisi), by Nuri Demirağ , in 1945. The Democrat Party was established the following year, and won the general elections of 1950; one of its leaders, Celal Bayar , becoming President of the Republic and another, Adnan Menderes , Prime Minister.

1945–1980[edit]Under the constitution of 1961, the Grand National Assembly was a bicameral parliament with over 600 members, the newly established upper house being the Senate of the Republic.

1980–present[edit]Following the 1980 military coup, the Senate was dissolved and the Turkish parliament again became unicameral under the current constitution approved in a nationalreferendum in 1982.

Composition[edit]

During a speech of U.S. President Barack Obama  on 6 April 2009.

There are 550 members of parliament (deputies) who are elected for a four-year term by the D'Hondt method, a party-list proportional representation system, from 85 electoral districts which represent the 81 administrative provinces of Turkey (Istanbul is divided into three electoral districts whereas Ankara and İzmir are divided into two each because of their large populations). To avoid a hung parliament and its excessive political fragmentation,[citation needed] a party must win at least 10% of the national vote to qualify for representation in the parliament. As a result of this threshold, only two

parties won seats in the legislature after the 2002 elections and three in 2007. The 2002elections saw every party represented in the previous parliament ejected from the chamber. [2] This rather high threshold has been internationally criticised, but a complaint with the European Court for Human Rights was turned down. Independent candidates may also run[3] and can be elected without needing a threshold.[4]

Since the 2002 general elections, an absolute majority of the seats have been held by members of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which leads a single-party government.[5] In 2002, the Republican People's Party (CHP) was the only other party that succeeded in being represented in Parliament. At the 2007 general elections, three parties managed to clear the 10% threshold — AK Party, CHP, and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Furthermore, Kurdish politicians from the Democratic Society Party (DTP) circumvented the threshold by contesting the election as independents; 24 of them were elected, enabling them to constitute their own faction in the Assembly. In 2015 no government has been established after June elections, were four parties entered Parliament.

Speaker of the parliament[edit]

The chair of the Speaker of the Parliament.

A new term in the parliament began on June 23, 2015, after the June 2015 General Elections. Deniz Baykal from the CHP temporarily served as the speaker, being the oldest member, until the election of İsmail Kahraman  on 22 November 2015.[6]

Members (since 1999)[edit]

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–present

Parliamentary groups[edit]Parties who have at least 20 deputies may form a parliamentary group. Currently there are four parliamentary groups at the GNAT: Ak Parti, which has the highest number of seats, CHP, MHP and HDP.

Committees[edit]Specialized committees[edit]

1. Constitution committee (26 members)2. Justice committee (24 members)3. National Defense committee (24 members)4. Internal affairs committee (24 members)5. Foreign affairs committee (24 members)

6. National Education, Culture, Youth and Sports committee (24 members)7. Development, reconstruction, transportation and tourism committee (24 members)8. Environment committee (24 members)9. Health, family, employment, social works committee (24 members)10.Agriculture, forestry, rural works committee (24 members)11.Industry, Commerce, Energy, Natural Resources, Information and Technology Committee

(24 members)12.Committee for checking GNAT Accounts (15 members)13.Application committee (13 members)14.Planning and Budget committee (39 members)15.Public enterprises committee (35 members)16.Committee on inspection of Human rights (23 members)17.European Union Harmonization Committee (21 members) (not available in Parliamentary

Procedures)

Parliamentary Research Committees[edit]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[edit]These committees are established if any investigation demand re the PM and ministers occur and approved by the General Assembly through hidden voting.

International Committees[edit]

1. Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation of Security Co-operation in Europe (8 members)2. Parliamentary Assembly of NATO (12 members)3. The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (14 members)4. Western European Union Parliamentary Assembly for Security and Defense (12 members)5. Turkey – European Union Joint Parliamentary Committee (14 members)6. Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Conference (5 members)7. Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (9

members)8. Union of Asian Parliaments for Peace (3 members)9. Parliamentary Assembly of Europe and Mediterranean (6 members)10.Inter-parliamentary Union

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 Enterprises (PEs) Committee has constant sub committees that are specifically responsible for a group of PEs.

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[edit]Main article: Turkish general election, November 2015

See also: List of political parties in Turkey and Elections in Turkey

e • d  Summary of the 1 November 2015 Grand National Assembly election results in Turkey

Party Vote Seats

Abbreviation

Party namein Turkish Leader(s) Number  % swing Elected  % of

total± since31 Oct

± sinceJun 2015

AKP

Justice and Development Party Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi

Ahmet Davutoğlu 23,681,926 49.50

 8.63

317 57.64  59  59

CHP

Republican People's Party Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu 12,111,812 25.32

 0.37

134 24.36  3  2

MHP

Nationalist Movement Party Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi

Devlet Bahçeli 5,694,136 11.90

 4.39

40 7.27  39  40

HDP

Peoples' Democratic Party Halkların Demokratik Partisi

Selahattin Demirtaş

Figen Yüksekdağ

5,148,085 10.76 2.3

659 10.73  21  21

SP Felicity PartySaadet Partisi

Mustafa Kamalak 325,978 0.68

 1.38

0 0.00  0  0

BBPGreat Union Party Büyük Birlik Partisi

Mustafa Destici 253,204 0.53 N/A 0 0.00 N/A N/A

VPPatriotic Party Vatan Partisi

Doğu Perinçek 118,803 0.25

 0.10

0 0.00  0  0

HAK-PAR

Rights and Freedoms Party Hak ve Özgürlükler Partisi

Fehmi Demir

(died 25 October 2015)

108,583 0.23 0.1

00 0.00  0  0

HKP

People's Liberation Party Halkın Kurtuluş Partisi

Nurullah Ankut 83,057 0.17

 0.04

0 0.00  0  0

DPDemocrat Party Demokrat Parti

Gültekin Uysal 69,319 0.14

 0.02

0 0.00  0  0

KPCommunist Party Komünist Parti

Arif Hikmet Basa 52,527 0.11

 0.08

0 0.00  0  0

Independents Bağımsızlar 51,038 0.11

 0.95

0 0.00  2  0

BTPIndependent Turkey Party Bağımsız Türkiye Partisi

Haydar Baş 49,297 0.10 0.1

10 0.00  0  0

DSPDemocratic Left Party Demokratik Sol Parti

Masum Türker 31,805 0.07

 0.12

0 0.00  0  0

LDP

Liberal Democrat Party Liberal Demokrat Parti

Cem Toker 26,816 0.06 0.0

00 0.00  0  0

MP Nation Party Millet Partisi

Aykut Edibali 19,714 0.04

 0.00

0 0.00  0  0

DYPTrue Path Party Doğru Yol Partisi

Çetin Özaçıkgöz 14,131 0.03

 0.03

0 0.00  0  0

Total 47,840,231 100.00 550 100.00

 0  0

Valid votes 47,840,231 98.56 1.4

7

Invalid / blank votes 697,464 1.44 1.4

7

Votes cast / turnout 48,537,695 85.23 1.3

1

Abstentions 8,411,314 14.77 1.3

1

Registered voters 56,949,009

Source: Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey (YSK)

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