23.04.2026 16:42
Speaking at the special session held at the Turkish Grand National Assembly on April 23, Speaker of the Parliament Numan Kurtulmuş brought up the long-debated issue of a new constitution. Kurtulmuş said, 'A strong Republic lives with a strong Parliament. A new constitution is a must. The political institution cannot be a place where oppositions become a deadlock.'
It is clear that we sometimes need such sentences when describing the state of the international system. In a global atmosphere where international institutions have collapsed, rules have become invalid, and even the concepts of international relations struggle to carry the truth, as seen in the Gaza genocide, it is inevitable that monsters emerge. Indeed, at this very moment, on this threshold of time, it is evident that the word of parliaments, which derive their legitimacy from the nation, becomes more valuable. As Turkey, with all our institutions and the accumulation from our history and regional weight, we advocate that the new international equation must be established on an axis of justice. In a world where schools, hospitals, places of worship, and marketplaces are not considered safe, humanity's claim to progress truly remains far from reason and logic.
The common conscience of humanity cannot and must not get used to a picture where children are killed in classrooms. The main source of the sentiment that makes April 23 bittersweet is the tragic loss of life in our country, while another source is the picture in the international arena. The safety of schools is the shared dignity of humanity. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey, as it addresses needs within our national borders, must also give voice to the pains concerning the common conscience of humanity and can never remain silent. A political understanding that forgets the children whose lives are darkened in Palestine, Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, Lebanon, Iran, and other crisis regions cannot offer hope to its own children either,” he said.
Kurtulmuş, referring to the work of the National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission, stated that the Commission worked with great democratic maturity and fulfilled its duty properly by completing its final report. Kurtulmuş said, “I hope that in the coming period, the steps required by this process will be taken in a qualified manner, and the doors to a new era in Turkey on the axis of peace, brotherhood, and solidarity will be opened wide. The nation's parliament is a powerful space that carries all the colors of the nation. As every voice of the country, from east to west, north to south, from big cities to our border districts, echoes here, national sovereignty becomes entrenched. Turkey has both the opportunity and the accumulation to make its democratic experience more mature,” he said.