(TBMM) - CHP Istanbul Deputy Suat Özçağdaş criticized the GNAT National Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Commission for not meeting for a long time and its functioning, and invited Commission President Ayşen Gürcan to resign. Özçağdaş said, "You cannot use a position you came to by election by dictation." Özçağdaş criticized YÖK President Erol Özvar over the cancellation process of Ekrem İmamoğlu's diploma and said, "You canceled Ekrem İmamoğlu's 32-year diploma. Your government did it." Reacting to the Rector of Istanbul University not being dismissed, Özçağdaş said, "You want a university that does not talk."
The National Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Commission convened under the chairmanship of Commission Chairman and AK Party Eskişehir Deputy Ayşen Gürcan. Discussions of the Bill on Amendments to the Higher Education Law and Some Laws started in the Commission.
CHP Istanbul Deputy Suat Özçağdaş criticized the commission not meeting for a long time and the functioning of the commission, and invited Commission Chairman and AK Party Eskişehir Deputy Ayşen Gürcan to resign. Özçağdaş said, "We are in the National Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Commission, which has not convened since July 3, 2024, and a will was used to prevent it from convening in violation of the Internal Regulations. Life and politics require that everything we do be put in front of us as an invoice."
Arguing that the commission did not discuss the problems in the fields of education, youth and sports, Özçağdaş said, "National Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Commission; 27 million 500 thousand citizens, 65 thousand schools, 207 universities... We have not talked about these issues for 2 years. They did not have any problems. Thank God, they prepared a health law proposal. We also understood that we had a problem. Youth is a part of this commission. There are 20.5 million young people. Türkiye has 20.5 million young people. "We haven't talked about anything about it. There are 63 federations, more than 100 organized sports branches, 19 million registered athletes, 9 million active athletes. We haven't talked about anything about sports," he said.
Özçağdaş said, "Can there be a Parliament that does not talk about Türkiye's problems and claims to be the manifestation of the national will? You feel sad when you say these. This Parliament, this commission, has 27 members. I am saying this to express your understanding of democracy. As you do in every commission, you have made three of the four members of the Presidency Council of this commission from the AK Party and one from the MHP. There is a positive situation here. The Deputy Chairman of this commission is from the MHP. "You don't even give them the position of Deputy Chairman in other commissions. Then let's discuss the country's problems together and talk to the opposition," he said.
Stating that a regulation regarding private school teachers was discussed in the Planning and Budget Commission, Özçağdaş said, "The Chairman of the National Education Commission said, 'It is okay if we do not talk about the issue regarding 200 thousand teachers and 10 thousands of private schools.' You will use your domination from the majority everywhere. Regarding those 200 thousand teachers, we asked, 'Why is this commission not meeting?' When we say, you will say 'I appreciated it that way'. There is no such democracy. Is there any AK Party member of parliament who says democracy can be like this?" he said.
Reminding the provision of the Internal Regulations that the commission can be called to a meeting upon the request of one-third of the commission members, Özçağdaş said, "The meeting is called by the chairmen upon the agenda to be proposed to the commission by one-third of the members. Ayşen Gürcan has no authority. I also invite you to resign. You cannot use an elected office by dictation. The internal regulations of the parliament are here."
Özçağdaş said, "You did not convene this commission. The date is June 15, 2026. We did it. We asked for an appointment from the Speaker of the Parliament, Numan Kurtulmuş, who is also from the AK Party. 12 deputies from four parties. The Numan Kurtulmuş we have been looking for for a month cannot be reached. What about a Speaker of the Parliament... When do four different parties come side by side in this Parliament? Our Numan Kurtulmuş does not speak. Because I believe and trust that if I read this article to Numan Kurtulmuş, "He will say, 'You are right, it was wrong,'" he said.
Referring to the Constitutional Court's Can Atalay decision, Özçağdaş said, "Article 153 of the Constitution says that the Constitutional Court decisions bind the judiciary, executive and legislature, but you do not let the Can Atalay decision be read... Then unity, brotherhood, solidarity. Oh, why did the opposition do this? Why don't you read the Constitutional Court decision? Why don't you have the Can Atalay decision read? You are also a member of parliament. As you just said, treat each other with respect as MPs. Deputy, why don't you read the Constitutional Court decision? he said.
At the end of his speech, Özçağdaş reiterated his call for the resignation of Commission President Gürcan and said, "This is an action against the Internal Regulations. I invite you to resign since it is a position to which you have been elected."
Özçağdaş continued his speech by criticizing YÖK President Erol Özvar, who was in the commission room, over the cancellation process of Ekrem İmamoğlu's diploma. Özçağdaş said:
"You canceled Ekrem İmamoğlu's 32-year-old diploma. Your government did it. This action you took to prevent him from being a presidential candidate caused the diplomas of 28 more people to be cancelled. But let me tell you another success of yours in AKP Turkey. You canceled the diplomas of 28 people, you filed a criminal case against only 17-year-old Ekrem İmamoğlu. And that case was brought by a lawyer from Istanbul University. The lawyer said, 'Although Ekrem İmamoğlu's 'Even if there is nothing he has done personally, it is right for his diploma to be cancelled.' Now this is the university order you created. Today we are talking about that university system. There is a lot of trouble when we talk about the truth. Now, the real fraud is in a job that has no authority... I mean the Rector of Istanbul University. For example, why didn't you dismiss the rector? 'You have no such authority. Why did you make such a decision?' you have to say. I give such authority to the president. Independent, independent. The Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration gave the diploma. It has that signature underneath it. The rector does not have such authority. 'Why did you do such a thing?' you have to say. Now that's the point."
You want a university that doesn't talk. You want a president who does not hand out diplomas. From your perspective, how is increasing the number of universities enough? We opened that university, closed that one, merged the other one, changed the name of the other one, let this one close for three days, let the other one open for four days, let 15 universities close in between, let the other one be like that... This kind of management approach all the time. What we say is this: The education system needs to be reformed from a holistic perspective, starting from early childhood education, within the framework of basic education, secondary education, vocational education, lifelong education and higher education needs. Because the children of this country choose not to go to university anymore."