Arayuz Campaign

For the youth!

Arayuz Campaign

For the youth!

National Assembly in June: Youth Issues Factsheet

Notes

This information note summarizes the prominent themes, discussions, and key data related to youth in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) for the month of June, based on the officially published parliamentary transcripts. During June, youth-related topics were discussed a total of 52 times in Parliament. A point of particular importance in this note is that the NEW WAY Group declared the week of June 21–27 as the “Week for the Fight Against Drugs.” In this context, they submitted 3 parliamentary motions for research and 1 draft law, thereby focusing the parliamentary agenda on this issue. Additionally, June 26 is recognized by the United Nations as the “International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking,” and MPs addressed the issue within this framework as well.

Key Themes

Drug Issue: Opposition MPs brought the issue of drugs to the parliamentary agenda a total of 17 times. In their speeches, they emphasized that it is the state’s responsibility to protect young people from addiction and that this problem cannot be solved with superficial measures but requires a genuine social state approach. Youth poverty/unemployment was highlighted as the main reason driving young people toward addiction.

By party:

  • Felicity (Saadet) Party: 7 times
  • CHP: 4 times
  • DEM Party: 2 times
  • İYİ Party: 2 times
  • DEVA Party: 1 time
  • DSP: 1 time

In response to these criticisms, AKP MPs took the floor 4 times to highlight the state’s successes and projects in the fight against drugs.

Gambling Issue: The gambling issue was brought up in the context of the article on betting and games of chance included in Bill No. 212. Opposition MPs spoke with the sensitivity that the state should not run gambling activities nor hand them over to private companies. The problem of young people’s illegal betting addiction and the fact that this addiction stems from their lack of hope for their future was mentioned 6 times.

By party:

  • CHP: 1 time
  • DEM Party: 1 time
  • DEVA Party: 1 time
  • Future (Gelecek) Party: 1 time
  • İYİ Party: 1 time
  • Felicity (Saadet) Party: 1 time

In addition, the issue of young people being unable to marry was brought to the parliamentary agenda 3 times by CHP MPs in June, relating it to poverty. The importance of university autonomy was discussed in the TBMM 4 times (2 CHP, 1 İYİ Party, 1 DEM).

Notable Data

Youth-related topics were brought up 52 times in the Turkish Grand National Assembly during the month of June. By party:

  • CHP: 16 times
  • Felicity (Saadet) Party: 9 times
  • DEM Party: 7 times
  • İYİ Party: 7 times
  • DEVA Party: 5 times
  • AKP: 4 times
  • Future (Gelecek) Party: 2 times
  • MHP: 1 time
  • DSP: 1 time

The MP who spoke most frequently on youth issues in June was Mehmet Karaman from the Felicity Party, with 3 speeches.

Conclusion

In June, the main focus of discussions on youth in the Turkish Grand National Assembly was the issue of drugs. The NEW WAY Group, in particular, made significant efforts to bring this issue to the parliamentary agenda. In addition, the problems of gambling, university autonomy, and quality were also on the agenda in June. As Arayüz Campaign, we will continue to examine the topics raised and new developments in terms of their impact on young people in our future work.

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