Turkish Parliament postpones foreign agent law following backlash
The Opening Meeting of the 3rd Legislative Year of the 28th Term of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye started under the chairmanship of Speaker Numan Kurtulmus, October 8, 2024. (AA Photo)
The Turkish Parliament this week postponed discussions on the Turkish Penal Code’s foreign agent articles following a backlash.
The negotiations on the judicial package, which includes the ‘influence agent’ regulation, were rescheduled. Next week, a new study will be carried out on the espionage clause, after which the judicial package will be discussed.
Article 16 of the 23-article draft bill is the main subject of debate, as it adds ‘foreign influence’ crime and a new definition under the “Crime Against State Secrets and Espionage” section of the Penal Code.
The amendments to the code were postponed in May 2024 earlier after the proposal from the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)-led government received backlash.
The current version of the proposal is proposed by the AK Party’s junior partner, the Nationalist Action Party (MHP).
