Citizens are revolting: Minister Bayraktar's 'jaw-dropping' defense of permanent daylight saving time

AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law, former Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak, introduced permanent daylight saving time during his tenure as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and citizens' complaints regarding the policy continue.

CHP Deputy Chairman Burhanettin Bulut brought the permanent daylight saving time policy, which has drawn public backlash, to the parliamentary agenda. Bulut submitted a written parliamentary question to the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) for Minister Bayraktar to answer.

According to a report by Cumhuriyet, Bayraktar responded to the motion by claiming that the policy allows citizens to “benefit more from daylight.” Stating that “it has been revealed that the time spent in darkness for each work shift interval has decreased by 64 hours compared to the previous practice,” Bayraktar added, “It has been determined that the dark time period coinciding with evening work and school dismissal times has been reduced; furthermore, considering the daylight hours during the winter season, it is projected that our citizens will benefit more from daylight and that greater savings rates will be achieved during the hours of sunset compared to previous years.”

Bulut reacted to the response by saying, “The minister, who acts as a patron for electricity companies, is mocking the intelligence of the nation.”