Turkish parliament set for 14-day sessions for 2026 budget

ANKARA

Turkish lawmakers will begin debating the 2026 budgets of ministries and the presidency on Dec. 8, launching a 14-day series of sessions in the general assembly following the budget’s approval in the committee.

The committee stage — opened with a presentation by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz on Oct. 23 — concluded after nearly 40 days and 240 hours of deliberations. Committee members reviewed the budgets of the presidency and all ministries on separate days, with the respective ministers attending the sessions.

The longest debate was held on the budget of the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry, lasting 13 hours and 56 minutes, while the 2026 budget of the Turkish parliament was adopted in the shortest time.

Yılmaz said the 2026 budget expenditures are projected at 18.93 trillion Turkish Liras ($445.1 billion), with revenues forecast at 16.22 trillion liras ($381.38 billion).

Following committee approval, lawmakers will take up the budget in the general assembly as of Dec. 8 for the final vote.

Under the agreed schedule, debates will last 14 consecutive days, with the assembly convening without interruption, including on public holidays and working until completing the daily agenda.

On the opening day, the session will be chaired by Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş.

Due to the debates, no visitors will be admitted to the parliament building and weekly party meetings will not be held.

The budget debates will conclude on Dec. 21, with final speeches and the vote on the bill as a whole.