Turkish Parliament to go to recess

ANKARA

A senior ruling party official has said that the Turkish Parliament will go to recess on July 1 until Oct. 1.

“The Parliament will go to recess on July 1 after the completion of pending legislative affairs on the approval of additional budget and academic amnesty,” deputy parliamentary group leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Mahir Ünal told reporters on late June 28.

The initial plan was to end the parliamentary works by July 7 but the government’s decision to postpone the controversial digital disinformation act has caused to bring the closure date forward. Ünal said the digital disinformation act will be brought to the parliament’s agenda when it opens in October.

The media associations and the opposition parties were criticizing the government for introducing this draft law that penalizes the distortion of the facts and disinformation. They regarded it as an effort to curb the freedom of media and expression.

“Disinformation is a problem beyond politics. It’s a global issue,” Ünal said, recalling that they have been working on the draft for the past eight months.

“It’s very important that a societal consensus is provided on the disinformation. Because disinformation is not something one can avoid only through punitive laws,” he suggested.

The parliament has already approved the additional budget and is expected to legislate a draft law on the military services before it goes to recess on Friday.