What is Grand National Assembly of Turkey? Facts and background

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey is the unicameral legislative branch of the Turkish government. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the unitary Turkish Constitution.

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 their 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 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 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 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 was elected after the snap elections on 7 June 2023.

Languages

The parliament's minutes are translated into the four languages: Arabic, Russian, English and French, but not in the Kurdish language 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 seven parliamentary groups at the GNAT: AK Party, YENİ Party, DEM, MHP, CHP, Good Party, and New Path.

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)
1. Subcommittee for the Inspection of Islamophobia and Racism (10 members)
2. Subcommittee for the Inspection of the Rights of Convicts and Detainees
3. Migration and Integration Subcommittee (10 members)
4. 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 a minimum of 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 (8 members)
NATO Parliamentary Assembly (18 members)
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (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 (9 members)
Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (9 members)
Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (5 members)
Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (9 members)
Parliamentary Assembly of the Economic Cooperation Organization (5 members)
Parliamentary Assembly of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (6 members)
Andean Parliament (observer) (3 members)
Latin American Parliament (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 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. Designed by architect Hasip Bey, it was used until 1924 and is now used as the locale of the War of Independence Museum, the second building which housed the Parliament was designed by architect Vedat Tek (1873–1942) and used from 1924 to 1960.

It is now been converted as the Republic Museum. 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 of the Turkish 50,000 lira banknotes of 1989–1999.

The building was hit by airstrikes three times during the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, suffering noticeable damage. It went through a renovation in the summer of 2016.