19.06.2026 08:40
During the voting on the energy agreement signed with Saudi Arabia in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the casting of ballots on behalf of 76 AK Party deputies who were not present in the hall caused controversy. In a check requested by the opposition, where Deputy Parliament Speaker Pervin Buldan read out the names one by one, it was observed that the AK Party deputies for whom ballots were cast were not in the General Assembly. Reacting to this situation, İYİ Party Deputy Group Chairman Turhan Çömez described it as "a night of shame for the Turkish Grand National Assembly."
The Turkish Grand National Assembly General Assembly, chaired by Deputy Speaker Pervin Buldan, discussed the Bill on the Approval of the Intergovernmental Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Regarding Renewable Energy Power Plant Projects. Following the completion of negotiations on the agreement, which involves Saudi Arabia establishing renewable energy power plants in Turkey, the voting phase began. During the electronic voting, deputies were also able to cast their votes using paper ballots.
BALLOT INSPECTION CONDUCTED UPON OPPOSITION'S REQUEST
During the vote, upon the request of opposition deputies, Deputy Speaker Buldan conducted an inspection of the ballots cast on behalf of the deputies in the ruling party benches. Following a request by İYİ Party Deputy Group Chair Turhan Çömez for the names of those who voted for Deputy Speaker Buldan to be counted one by one, a ballot inspection was carried out in the General Assembly.
Çömez from İYİ Party stated that ballots were cast on behalf of deputies who were not present in the hall, reacting, "There are 79 ballots, we demand that the names of these 79 people be read out one by one. 79 ballots, how can this be? Are we wasting our time here at midnight?"
Upon Çömez's request, Deputy Speaker Buldan reminded the procedure, emphasizing that deputies cannot leave the hall, saying, "Dear deputies, we will conduct a ballot inspection. Dear deputies, look, within two minutes, a deputy cannot leave here. They cannot leave here, friends. Now, if a Deputy Group Chair has such a request, I am obliged to fulfill it."
AK PARTY DEPUTIES WHOSE NAMES WERE READ WERE NOT IN THE HALL
When Deputy Speaker Buldan read the ballots one by one from the General Assembly podium, it was observed that the AK Party deputies whose names were called were not present in the hall.
After the necessary quorum could not be achieved in the first ballot inspection and open vote, the voting process was repeated. As the decision quorum was not reached in the renewed second vote either, Deputy Speaker Buldan decided to adjourn the session. The General Assembly session was closed, to convene on Tuesday, June 23.
"BALLOT" REACTION FROM DEPUTY GROUP CHAIRS
New Path Party Group Chair Mehmet Emin Ekmen noted in a post on his social media account that 79 ballots were sent to the podium during the voting on the contract. Stating that only 4 deputies were found to be present in the hall during the roll call, Ekmen said, "Since participation in the vote was 165 and the yes votes remained at 144, the voting was renewed. In the second vote, the required quorum of 200 was not reached, so the contract vote was deemed invalid and the general assembly was closed. The alliance, which could not keep 200 deputies present in the general assembly, has once again shown that it has lost its energy. We leave the judgment on the use of ballots on behalf of 76 people to our noble nation."
Regarding the casting of ballots on behalf of deputies not present in the General Assembly, CHP Deputy Group Chair Murat Emir stated in a post on his social media account, "Again AKP, again fake ballots. 79 AKP deputies are not in Parliament, but they say 'we are here' with the fake ballots they submitted. This disgraceful act, committed right in front of the eyes of the nation in the parliament of the nation, is the final point of political fraud and decay."
"A NIGHT OF SHAME FOR THE TURKISH GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY"
İYİ Party Deputy Group Chair Turhan Çömez, in his post titled "A night of shame for the Turkish Grand National Assembly," reacted by saying, "During the vote on the energy agreement with Saudi Arabia; the ruling side, which did not have enough deputies in the General Assembly hall, submitted exactly 76 fake ballots. That is, they forged the signatures of 76 deputies who were not in the hall and attempted to cast fake votes on their behalf. We identified them one by one. And without the voting being completed, Parliament closed tonight. This is treason against democracy and the will of the nation. What a shame for this beautiful country."