Some 46 ruling AKP MPs never speak in Turkish Parliament

Of the 600 lawmakers elected in the May 2023 elections, 58 only spoke to take the oath of office in the Turkish Parliament. Among the deputies who did not speak at all in the general assembly or commissions, 46 of them were from the ruling AKP.

Tuesday January 02 2024 11:30 am

Duvar English

In the seven months since the 2023 General Elections, 58 members of the Turkish Parliament have not spoken in the general assembly or in any committee, according to the daily Evrensel.

In the 600-member Parliament, 58 lawmakers took the floor only during the oath of office, except for Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) deputy Can Atalay, who has been imprisoned despite the Constitutional Court’s ruling.

While 46 of the lawmakers who did not take the floor at all were from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), six of them were former ministers who were specifically nominated as deputies from metropolitan cities by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan himself.

Former Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, who teased others by saying "You became ministers thanks to me,” has no record of him speaking at the General Assembly or in a commission. Nureddin Nebati, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Murat Kurum, Muharrem Kasapoğlu, and Mahmut Özer were the other former ministers who got elected as MPs and did not talk at the Parliament.

Former Justice Minister and DEVA Party Deputy Sadullah Ergin, one of the names that drew the most controversy before the elections due to his nomination from the main opposition Republican’s People Party (CHP) lists, maintained his silence in the Parliament.

Other notable CHP members who did not speak were İlhan Kesici and Erdoğan Toprak.

Lawmaker Nebi Hatipoğlu, who resigned from the Good (İYİ) Party and switched to AKP, took the floor in a single General Assembly meeting. Speaking about the incentives given to his company when he switched to the AKP, Hatipoğlu defended that he did not take bribes.

İYİ lawmaker Salim Ensarioğlu also did not appear on the rostrum for seven months.

Former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chairs Mithat Sancar and Pervin Buldan also did not take the floor in the General Assembly or the commission as the deputies from the HDP’s successor Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party.

The total number of members in the Parliament is 599 after the death of one Felicity Party (SP) deputy. In the Turkish Parliament, the distribution of seats among the biggest parties is as follows: AKP has 264 members, CHP has 129 members, DEM Party has 57 members, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has 49 members, İYİ Party has 38 members, SP has 20 members, and DEVA has 15 members.

Among the minor parties, New Welfare Party (YRP) has five members, TİP has four members, Free Cause Party (HÜDA-PAR) has four members, Democrat Party (DP) has three members, Democratic Regions Party (DBP) has two members, Labor Party (EMEP) has two members, and Democratic Left Party has one member. There are also six independent members.