Alarming situation in the Turkish Parliament: Ministries failed to respond to 12,742 parliamentary questions

While debates continue regarding the oversight mechanisms of the Turkish Parliament following the implementation of the Presidential Government System on July 9, 2018, data from the Speaker of the Parliament has revealed the response rates to written parliamentary questions.

According to a report by Birgün, it has been observed that a large number of written parliamentary questions directed at ministries during the 28th Legislative Term, which began on June 2, 2023, and is ongoing, were not answered within the legal timeframe.

As of May 12, 2026, out of 44,154 written parliamentary questions processed by the Speaker of the Parliament, 6,157 were answered within the legal timeframe. Accordingly, the on-time response rate for parliamentary questions was recorded at 14 percent.

THOUSANDS OF QUESTIONS ANSWERED AFTER THE DEADLINE

According to parliamentary data, the number of questions answered after the legal deadline was 24,053. In contrast, 12,742 written parliamentary questions remained unanswered.

UNANSWERED QUESTION RATES BY MINISTRY

Data regarding the responses provided by ministries to parliamentary questions showed that in some institutions, the rates of non-response reached remarkable levels.

Accordingly, the rates of unanswered parliamentary questions were listed as follows:

• Ministry of Interior: 42 percent
• Ministry of Health: 60 percent
• Ministry of Industry and Technology: 53 percent
• Ministry of Justice: 31 percent
• Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change: 38 percent

REMINDER FROM THE SPEAKER OF THE PARLIAMENT TO MINISTRIES

The Speaker of the Parliament reported that a request had been made to the ministries for the responses provided to parliamentary questions to be “prepared in a manner that is fully responsive to the questions, sufficient, and satisfactory, in accordance with the dignity of the Parliament.”

SOME RESPONSES DO NOT ADDRESS THE QUESTIONS

The content of the responses provided to parliamentary questions has also become a subject of debate. It was noted that in some responses, instead of answering the questions posed by MPs, institutions directed them to their websites, but the shared links did not contain the answers to the relevant questions.

In some questions, it was observed that only specific parts were answered. It was also noted that Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz responded to some parliamentary questions with the phrase “Outside our area of interest.”

REASONS FOR DELAYS WERE QUESTIONED

In a parliamentary question submitted to the Speaker of the Parliament, ministries were asked why written parliamentary questions were not answered within the constitutional timeframe.

The responses received from the ministries included the following in summary:

Ministry of National Defense: It was stated that after the parliamentary questions reach the ministry, the relevant information and documents are coordinated, and answers are provided as soon as possible.

Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure: It was stated that the response had not yet been sent to the Parliament because the legal deadline had passed.

Ministry of Trade: It was reported that the intensity of the workload and the process of obtaining the necessary information sometimes caused parliamentary questions to be answered after the deadline.

News Source: 12punto