Parliament approves 2026 budget in chaotic session

ANKARA

Türkiye's parliament approved the central government budget for 2026 late on Dec. 21, after a heated session that descended into a brawl between lawmakers from the ruling and main opposition parties.

The budget proposal passed with 320 votes in favor and 249 against during a plenary session. The vote followed hours of tense debate between members of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Republican People’s Party (CHP).

During the session, lawmakers from the two parties exchanged verbal insults that escalated into pushing and shoving before turning into a fistfight. Several MPs from both sides joined the clash, forming a large melee in the middle of the assembly hall. Security guards and other lawmakers intervened to separate those involved, but the confrontation lasted about 10 minutes.

Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş suspended the session because of the violence. The scuffle continued even after the break was called.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan welcomed the approval of the budget in a statement posted on X, saying he hoped the bill would “bring good fortune to our country, our nation and our economy.” He also thanked parliament and lawmakers “who worked tirelessly during this process.”

The confrontation erupted after AKP lawmaker Mustafa Varank criticized the CHP and its leader, Özgür Özel, during budget talks. Gökhan Günaydın, one of CHP's parliamentary leaders, later responded, prompting a counterreaction from AKP's Abdullah Güler, further inflaming tensions.

Özel and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli were present in the chamber during the brawl. Earlier on the final day of budget discussions, Özel had shaken hands with Bahçeli and several AKP lawmakers in a gesture seen as conciliatory.

Following the suspension of the session, Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) co-chairs Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan approached Bahçeli to greet him after the break.

Meanwhile, the parliament is set to debate a judicial reform bill this week that could allow the early release of tens of thousands of prisoners.

The legislation, known as the 11th judicial package, would let inmates convicted of crimes committed on or before July 31, 2023, move from closed to open prisons — and from open prisons to probation — up to three years earlier than currently permitted.

Approved by a parliamentary commission on Dec. 5, the bill also expands a temporary release measure introduced during the COVID pandemic.

Following public backlash, the AKP tabled an amendment excluding crimes against women and children.