The General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly convened yesterday to take the oath of the former ministers elected as deputies and regarding the inauguration process of the new ministers. The session was once again chaired by the interim Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Devlet Bahçeli. Former ministers who did not take the oath at the swearing-in ceremony and were elected MPs, and then AKP Istanbul deputy Hulusi Şentürk and CHP Istanbul Deputy Gökhan Zeybek, who did not take part in the ceremony due to their excuses, also took the oath. Numan Kurtulmuş, AKP’s candidate for the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, was elected as the 30th President of the Assembly by meeting the absolute majority of the total number of members, that is, the condition of 301 deputies, in the third round of voting.
TWO MINISTERS REPEAT
In the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, yesterday, “witty dialogues” took place between the opposition and the government, while the former ministers who were elected as deputies were sworn in. Former Minister Vedat Bilgin greeted the General Assembly after taking the oath. CHP’s Mahmut Tanal, who repeated his oath on the grounds that he greeted the General Assembly during his oath, also objected to the situation. Temporary Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Devlet Bahçeli, said, “Mahmut Bey, you do not need to warn. We have the experience we gained from you.” After the speeches, Bilgin repeated his oath. Former Minister Mahmut Özer was another person who had to repeat his oath because he had read incompletely.
THEY HAVE BEEN ‘ELECTED’!
After the swearing-in ceremony of the former ministers, the new cabinet members were sworn in. The statements in the Presidential memorandum regarding the “decision on the appointments to the vice president and ministries” read by the Presidency Council, “I have started my duty by being elected president by the people in the elections held on Sunday, May 28, 2023” drew attention.
After the memorandum, the cabinet members took oath one by one. After the oaths, the election of the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly was held. AKP and MHP, AKP Deputy Chairman Numan Kurtulmuş; CHP Ankara Deputy Tekin Bingöl; IYI Party, Istanbul deputy Cihan Pacaçı; Green Left Party, Adana Deputy Tülay Hatimoğulları Oruç; TİP, Hatay deputy Can Atalay, who is imprisoned in prison; DEVA Party, which was elected from the CHP list, elected Istanbul deputy Mustafa Yeneroğlu; Felicity Party and Future Party nominated Antalya deputy Serap Yazıcı Özbudun with a joint decision.
In the first two rounds, a 2 out of 3 majority was not achieved. At the beginning of the third round of voting, Yeneroğlu and Özbudun withdrew from the candidacy.
584 deputies participated in the third round of voting. In the voting, Kurtulmuş received 321, Bingöl 160, Oruç 51, Paçacı 43 and Atalay 4 votes. 5 votes were disallowed.
‘DON’T GO TO THE AKP ROW’
While the AKP Group applauded Kurtulmuş’s speech, the majority of the CHP, IYI Party and HDP desks remained empty. After making his speech, Kurtulmuş headed towards the AKP benches. Meanwhile, CHP Group Chairman Özgür Özel told Kurtulmuş, “It is not appropriate for you to sit at that time anymore”.
In his statement from the parliamentary rostrum after he was elected, Kurtulmuş said, “Reminding that 100 years have passed since the establishment of the Assembly and the proclamation of the Republic, Turkey achieved great gains in this process.” Stating that as a nation, we have to set new goals and new horizons, Kurtulmuş said, “We will all give our shoulders and strength in the second century of our Republic, which we call the Turkish Century. We will work hard for a stronger, bigger Türkiye. The expectation of our nation from us is a new constitution,” he said.