TRT to evade scrutiny: Exemption from public procurement law for companies
The law proposal, which was cancelled by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that it ‘could lead to corruption’, to exempt TRT-affiliated companies from the Public Tender Law was passed by the commission. The opposition interpreted the article as ‘implicit privatisation’ and KESK Representative commented on the article as ‘Companies will escape from audits’.
With the transition to the Presidential Government System, amendments were made to laws and statutory decrees to align with the changes introduced in the Constitution. As part of this process, numerous Statutory Decrees were issued. However, the Constitutional Court cancelled many of these regulations on the grounds that they addressed matters which could not be governed by Statutory Decree.
Following the cancelations by the Constitutional Court, the AKP governments resorted once again to the omnibus bill practice, which has become routine. Through a series of omnibus proposals submitted to Parliament, numerous contentious regulations were pushed through.
AKP AND MHP VOTES
On 25 April, another omnibus proposal was added to the list of those resubmitted by AKP to Parliament after being annulled by the Constitutional Court for being regulated via Statutory Decree. The Law Proposal on Amendments to Certain Laws and Statutory Decree No. 375, submitted by AKP to the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on 25 April, was discussed in the Parliamentary Planning and Budget Committee on 7 May. Despite all objections by the opposition, the articles of the bill were approved with the votes of committee members from AKP and MHP. It was reported that the proposal would be brought to the General Assembly on 12 May.
EXEMPTIONS FOR TRT
The bill passed by the Planning and Budget Committee includes a provision allowing the Director General of TRT to be paid the highest salary among civil servants. The most striking article in the proposal enables TRT to establish companies and form partnerships with the private sector. Furthermore, it stipulates that the companies founded or partnered by TRT would be exempt from the Public Procurement Law for all purchases, sales, services, consultancy, and production work. The bill also includes provisions for determining the additional indicators of TRT personnel by Presidential decree and employing staff subject to private law within the institution.
PRIVILEGED PERSONNEL
Şaziment Banu Savaş, a representative of KESK who attended the committee meeting, criticised the proposal that would exempt TRT companies from the Public Procurement Law and the Law on Public Procurement Contracts. Savaş stated that the companies would be removed from oversight and turned into structures where “anything could be done at will.” She added, “Moreover, assigning institutional personnel as chair or members of these companies, without setting any limits on their remuneration and allowing them to retain their rights as TRT personnel, would create a group of privileged staff.”
SPENDING THE PUBLIC’S MONEY
Ahmet Vehbi Bakırlıoğlu, a member of the Parliamentary Planning and Budget Committee and CHP MP, stated that 86% of TRT’s expenditures are financed through taxes collected from the public. Emphasising that it is unacceptable for the companies to be exempt from Public Procurement regulations, Bakırlıoğlu said: “TRT companies will be exempt from public procurement legislation and the oversight of the Court of Accounts, and thus from parliamentary oversight. Billions of lira will be spent, but no one will be able to hold them accountable, not even the Court of Accounts or Parliament. Of TRT’s 21 billion TL income in 2023, 18.2 billion TL came from citizens’ taxes. When we asked how much the outsourced programmes cost, both in the Public Economic Enterprises Committee and the Planning and Budget Committee, we were told it’s a ‘trade secret’ and no information was provided. TRT World News UK Limited, which TRT established abroad, is also excluded from the oversight of the Court of Accounts.”
Note: This text has been translated from the original Turkish version titled TRT denetimden kaçırılacak: Şirketlere ihale kanunu muafiyeti, published in BirGün newspaper on May 9, 2025.
