Turkish parliament starts new legislative term

ANKARA

Parliament has begun its new legislative term on Oct. 1, after a 3-month recess.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered the opening speech of the 5th Legislative Year of the 27th Term of the Grand National Assembly.

Erdoğan said: “I hope that the 6th Legislative Year of the 27th Term of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye will bring good tidings to all of you as well as to our country and nation. I would like to express my gratitude to all members of parliament who served our country under the roof of this great institution since its establishment. I pay my respects to the memory of all deceased members of parliament who served this Assembly since its establishment in 1920.''

''In about 8 months, Türkiye will elect the members of the Grand National Assembly and the President who represents executive power. Elections will take place at a time of historic change both in the world and in our region as centuries-old balances of power are shaken to the core, and political, economic and military power centers shift,'' he stated. 

One of the first agenda items of the new period will be the social media regulation, which is described as a “disinformation” proposal in the public.

In this regulation, it was mostly discussed whether or not to make a change in the article that includes imprisonment for social media posts.

The regulations in which the government will undertake a part of the enforcement of debts of 6 million low-income people and include new incentives and support for the tradesmen will soon be submitted to the parliament.

This proposal, which will be transformed into an economy package, is also expected to include a mediation arrangement that will be made compulsory in disputes arising from rent, condominium and neighborhood law.

Another topic of the new legislative term will be the regulation on retirement age (EYT), which has come to an end and will be presented to the parliament by December at the latest. A law passed in 1999 raised the age of retirement to 58 for females and 60 for males, effectively ending earlier schemes that had provided many the opportunity to retire early.

The budget to be presented on Oct. 17 will be among the tasks that the parliament will work for the committee in November and the General Assembly meetings in December.

The parliament will also elect a member to the Constitutional Court and a new member to the Personal Data Protection Board and RTÜK.