The Legislative Branch

Updated April 2026 · framework reflects post-2017 amendments.

Legislative authority in Türkiye is vested in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi, TBMM), a unicameral parliament of 600 deputies elected for a five-year term concurrently with the President.

Composition and term

The TBMM consists of 600 deputies (raised from 550 by the 2017 amendment). Deputies are elected for a five-year term, extended from four years and aligned with the presidential term so that the two elections are held on the same day (Constitution, Arts. 75–77). Deputies represent the entire nation, not solely their districts, and take a constitutionally prescribed oath of office before assuming their duties.

Eligibility

Following the 2017 amendments, the minimum age to stand for election was lowered from twenty-five to eighteen (Constitution, Art. 76). Persons in active military service, students, and certain categories of public employees and convicted persons remain ineligible.

Duties and authority

While the post-2017 transition shifted executive responsibility to the President, the TBMM retains the principal functions of a parliament under Article 87 of the Constitution:

• Lawmaking. Enacting, amending, and repealing laws.
• Budget oversight. Adopting the central government budget and final account laws.
• International relations. Approving the ratification of international treaties.
• War and security. Declaring war, authorising the deployment of the armed forces abroad, and approving or extending states of emergency declared by the President.
• Currency and amnesty. Authorising the issuance of currency and granting general or special amnesties (a three-fifths majority is required for the latter).
• Oversight of the executive. Exercised through parliamentary inquiries, general debates, written questions, and parliamentary investigations into the President or Vice Presidents (Constitution, Arts. 98 and 105).

Lawmaking and the relationship with presidential decrees

A statute enacted by the TBMM takes precedence over a Presidential Decree on the same subject (Constitution, Art. 104). If the Assembly subsequently passes a law on a matter regulated by a decree, the decree becomes void to the extent of the inconsistency. Decrees may not regulate fundamental rights, political rights, or matters reserved by the Constitution to legislation.

Sessions and procedure

The Assembly convenes on its own initiative on the first day of October each year and may recess for up to three months. The President or the Speaker may call the Assembly into extraordinary session (Constitution, Art. 93). Day-to-day business is governed by the TBMM’s rules of procedure (iç tüzük).

Speaker and parliamentary groups

The Speaker (Meclis Başkanı) is elected from among the deputies and presides over plenary sessions. Parties with at least twenty deputies form parliamentary groups, which set the legislative calendar and table motions on behalf of their members.

What changed in 2017