Constitution

Turkey 1982 Constitution (reviewed 2017)

Table of Contents

PART FOUR. Financial and Economic Provisions

CHAPTER ONE. Financial Provisions

I. Budget

A. Budget and final accounts

ARTICLE 161

The expenditure of the State and of public corporations, other than state economic enterprises, shall be determined by annual budgets.

The beginning of the fiscal year and the preparation, implementation, and control of the central government budget and special periods and procedures for investments, or for business and services expected to last more than one year shall be defined by law. No provisions other than those pertaining to the budget shall be included in the Budget Act.

The President shall submit central government budget bill to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey at least seventy-five days prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. The budget bill shall be examined by the Committee on Budget. The budget bill adopted by the Committee on Budget within fifty-five days shall thereafter be debated and concluded by the Plenary before the beginning of the fiscal year.

In case the budget law cannot be put into force in time, a provisional budget shall be adopted. Where a provisional budget cannot be adopted then the budget of the previous year increased by the revaluation rate shall be applied.

Members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey shall express their opinions, in the Plenary, on public administrations’ budgets during the debates of each budget; they shall not make proposals that entail an increase in expenditure or a decrease in revenue.

In the Plenary, public administrations’ budgets and motions for amendments shall be read out and voted without debate.

The appropriation granted by the central government budget shall indicate the limit of expenditure allowed. No provision shall be included in the budget to the effect that the limit of expenditure may be exceeded by a Presidential Decree.

In motions of amendment entailing an increase in appropriations under the budget of the current fiscal year, and, in bills entailing financial burden in the budgets of the current or following fiscal year, the financial resources to meet the stated expenditure shall be indicated.

Central government final accounts bills shall be submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey by the President of the Republic within six months at the latest after the end of the relevant fiscal year. The Court of Accounts shall submit its statement of general conformity to the Assembly within seventy-five days of the submission of the final accounts bill to which it is related.

The submission of the final accounts bills and the statement of general conformity to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey shall not preclude the auditing and trial of the accounts for the relevant fiscal year that have not been concluded by the Court of Accounts, and shall not mean that a final decision has been taken on these accounts.

Final accounts bills shall be debated and decided in conjunction with the budget bill of the new fiscal year.

B. Debate on the budget

ARTICLE 162

(Repealed on January 21, 2017; Act No. 6771)

C. Principles governing budgetary amendments

ARTICLE 163

(Repealed on January 21, 2017; Act No. 6771)

D. Final accounts

ARTICLE 164

(Repealed on January 21, 2017; Act No. 6771)

E. Scrutiny of state economic enterprises

ARTICLE 165

The principles governing the scrutiny of the accounts of public institutions and partnerships where more than half of the capital directly or indirectly belongs to the State, by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, shall be regulated by law.

CHAPTER TWO. Economic Provisions

I. Planning; Economic and Social Council

ARTICLE 166

Planning the economic, social and cultural development, in particular the rapid, balanced and harmonious development of industry and agriculture throughout the country and the efficient use of national resources by taking inventory of and evaluating them, and the establishment of the necessary organization for this purpose are the duties of the State.

Measures to increase national savings and production, to ensure stability in prices and balance in external payments, to promote investment and employment shall be included in the plan; in investments, public interests and necessities shall be taken into account and the efficient use of resources shall be proposed. Development activities shall be realized according to this plan.

The procedure and principles governing the preparation of development plans, their approval by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, their implementation and revision, and the prevention of amendments disrupting the unity of the plan shall be regulated by law.

The Economic and Social Council shall be established to provide the President of the Republic with consultative opinions in the formulation of economic and social policies. The establishment and functioning of the Economic and Social Council shall be laid down in law.

II. Supervision of markets and regulation of foreign trade

ARTICLE 167

The State shall take measures to ensure and promote the sound and orderly functioning of the markets for money, credit, capital, goods and services; and shall prevent the formation of monopolies and cartels in the markets, emerged in practice or by agreement.

In order to regulate foreign trade for the benefit of the economy of the country, the President of the Republic may be empowered by law to introduce additional financial impositions on imports, exports and other foreign trade transactions, except taxes and similar impositions, or to lift them.

III. Exploration and exploitation of natural resources

ARTICLE 168

Natural wealth and resources shall be under the authority and at the disposal of the State. The right to explore and exploit these belongs to the State. The State may delegate this right to persons or corporate bodies for a certain period. Of the natural wealth and resources, those to be explored and exploited by the state in partnership with persons or corporate bodies, and those to be directly explored and exploited by persons or corporate bodies shall be subject to the explicit permission of the law. The conditions to be observed in such cases by persons and corporate bodies, the procedure and principles governing supervision and control by the State, and the sanctions to be applied shall be prescribed by law.

IV. Forests and the forest villagers

A. Protection and development of forests

ARTICLE 169

The State shall enact the necessary legislation and take the measures required for the protection and extension of forests. Burnt forest areas shall be reafforested; other agricultural and stockbreeding activities shall not be allowed in such areas. All forests shall be under the care and supervision of the State.

The ownership of state forests shall not be transferred. State forests shall be managed and exploited by the State in accordance with the law. Ownership of these forests shall not be acquired by prescription, nor shall servitude other than that in the public interest be imposed in respect of such forests.

Acts and actions that might damage forests shall not be permitted. No political propaganda that might lead to the destruction of forests shall be made; no amnesties or pardons specifically for offences against forests shall be granted. Offences committed with the intention of burning or destroying forests or reducing forest areas shall not be included within the scope of amnesties or pardons.

The reducing of forest areas shall be prohibited, except in respect of areas whose preservation as forests is considered scientifically and technically useless but conversion into agricultural land has been found to be definitely advantageous, and in respect of fields, vineyards, orchards, olive groves or similar areas which technically and scientifically ceased to be forest before December 31, 1981 and whose use for agricultural or stockbreeding purposes has been found advantageous, and in respect of built-up areas in the vicinity of cities, towns or villages.

B. Protection of forest villagers

ARTICLE 170

Measures shall be introduced by law to secure cooperation between the State and the inhabitants of villages located in or near forests in the supervision and exploitation of forests for the purpose of ensuring conservation of forests and their integrity, and improving the living conditions of these inhabitants; the law shall also regulate the exploitation of areas which technically and scientifically ceased to be forests before December 31, 1981; the identification of areas whose preservation as forest is considered scientifically and technically useless, their exclusion from forest boundaries and their improvement by the State for the purpose of settling all or some of the inhabitants of forest villages in them, and their allocation to these villages.

The State shall take measures to facilitate the acquisition of equipment and other inputs by these inhabitants.

The land owned by villagers resettled outside a forest shall immediately be reafforested as a State forest.

V. Developing cooperativism

ARTICLE 171

The State shall take measures, in keeping with national economic interests, to ensure the development of cooperativism, which shall be primarily aiming at increase in production and protection of consumers.

VI. Protection of consumers, tradespeople and artisans

A. Protection of consumers

ARTICLE 172

The State shall take measures to protect and inform consumers; shall encourage their initiatives to protect themselves.

B. Protection of tradespeople and artisans

ARTICLE 173

The State shall take measures to protect and support tradespeople and artisans.