Turkey · Government
Government and administration in Turkey
How the executive, legislature and administrative state are organised, and which body is responsible for what.
The three branches
- Head of state and government — President
- Directly elected; since 2018 also head of the executive with no prime minister.
- Legislative — Grand National Assembly
- Unicameral, 600 members, elected by proportional representation with a threshold.
- Judicial governance — Council of Judges and Prosecutors
- Thirteen members; appoints, transfers and disciplines the judiciary.
- Audit — Court of Accounts (Sayıştay)
- Audits public expenditure and reports to the Assembly.
- Human rights — Ombudsman and Human Rights and Equality Institution
- Complaint-handling and equality mandate.
How legislation is made
Bills are introduced by members or the executive, examined in committee and passed by the Assembly. The President may return a law once for reconsideration; if the Assembly re-adopts it unchanged the President must promulgate it or refer it to the Constitutional Court. Presidential decrees take effect on publication in the Official Gazette but lapse where the Assembly later legislates on the same subject.
Enforcement institutions
- General Directorate of Security and Gendarmerie
- Police in urban areas, gendarmerie in rural; both under the Ministry of Interior.
- Public prosecutors' offices
- Direct criminal investigation; attached to each court of first instance.
- Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK)
- Anti-money-laundering financial intelligence unit.
- Competition Authority
- Enforces the Law on Protection of Competition.
- Personal Data Protection Authority (KVKK)
- Enforces the 2016 data protection law modelled on EU rules.
Government bodies and regulators
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