Parliament on Tuesday closed a busy second legislative year of the 28th period, during which 70 bills of law were accepted.
The legislative session that started on October 2023 and ended this month saw 112 sessions and 547 sessions held in the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye. Fifty of the 70 enacted bills were bills that approved international agreements.
The next legislative session will start on Oct. 1.
Parliament recently discussed and accepted the controversial bill on stray animals.
Under the legislation proposed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), municipalities will have to get strays off the streets and into shelters. Any dogs that “present a danger to the life or health of people and animals, display uncontrollable negative behavior, have a contagious or incurable disease or whose adoption is forbidden” will be put down.
Critics of the bill claimed it seeks to indiscriminately cull the canine population, while proponents argued its necessity amid rising fatal attacks by aggressive dogs, especially on children and the elderly.
Under previous legislation, municipalities had to neuter and vaccinate all street dogs and leave them where they were found following treatment.
On the other side, several regulations, including the bill of law on amendments to tax laws, which includes increasing the minimum retirement pension to TL 12,500; the bill on savings measures in the public sector; the bill containing regulations on crypto assets; the bill regarding Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) personnel; the bill of law including increasing penalties for exorbitant prices and hoarding; the 8th Judicial Package; the bill on working life regulations; on the economy; on the Establishment of the Family and Youth Fund; and urban transformation, were accepted in the General Assembly and were passed into law.
In this term, deputies proposed 796 bills of law to the TBMM Presidency. Moreover, 35 decisions and eight joint declarations were accepted.
Seven presidential motions allowing the Turkish Armed Forces to carry out missions beyond the border were discussed and accepted.
Five TBMM Presidency motions on the subjects of "Uncompromising support of the TBMM in the fight against terrorism," "Condemnation of the decision of the French National Assembly dated April 29, 2024," "Condemnation of Israel's Rafah massacres," "50th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation" and "Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to the U.S. Congress" were also among the decisions accepted in the General Assembly.
The Advisory Board convened 118 times this legislative year.
Furthermore, deputies submitted 9,437 parliamentary questions to be answered by ministers and the parliamentary head, of which 4,007 were responded to.
During this period, a parliamentary investigation commission was established to investigate all aspects of the accident that occurred in a gold mine in the Iliç district of Erzincan and to determine measures to prevent similar accidents. Nine mineworkers lost their lives in the Iliç disaster that occurred in February.
In the legislative year, the parliamentary mandate of seven people ended: one due to death, another due to the "loss of parliamentary mandate according to the Constitution," four ended due to choosing mayoralty, and one more due to being appointed as a minister.
Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş also led international aspects and dialogues of Parliament, hosting the parliamentary delegations of several countries in the capital, Ankara or visiting foreign parliaments for cooperation abroad.
