Busy schedule at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey: Budget marathon ending, 11th Judicial Package is next

Negotiations on the 2026 budget will be completed today, followed by a vote in the General Assembly. Representatives of political parties will each deliver 60-minute speeches on the budget. Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz will speak on behalf of the executive branch. Following the vote, the 2026 Central Government Budget Law Proposal and the 2024 Central Government Final Account Law Proposal will be finalized.

Following the budget negotiations, the Parliament's agenda will be the 11th Judicial Package. This regulation will increase penalties for crimes related to managing and being a member of a criminal organization. Specifically, penalties for those who use children under the age of 18 to commit crimes will be doubled. In this context, if armed gangs use individuals under the age of 18, managers could face up to 30 years in prison.

Regulations regarding probation and open penal institutions related to the pandemic period are also included in this package. Those whose crimes were committed before July 31, 2023, will be able to transition to open penal institutions earlier and benefit from probation.

Meanwhile, report preparations are ongoing in the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission, which was established in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as part of the second opening process—referred to as a Terror-Free Turkey—conducted with the DEM Party and Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the terrorist organization PKK. The AKP submitted a comprehensive report to the Speaker of the Parliament. The MHP, CHP, New Path, and DEM Party also submitted their own reports last week. In the new week, it is expected that Speaker of the Parliament Numan Kurtulmuş will meet with the commission's coordinator group deputy chairmen.