The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( or Parlamento), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Constitution. It was founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920 in the midst of the National Campaign. This constitution had founded its pre-government known as 1st Executive Ministers of Turkey (Commitment Deputy Committee) in May 1920. The parliament was fundamental in the efforts of Mareşal Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1st President of the Republic of Turkey, and his colleagues to found a new state out of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. Composition There are 600 members of parliament (deputies) who are elected for a five-year term by the D'Hondt method, a party-list proportional representation system, from 87 electoral districts which represent the 81 administrative provinces of Turkey (Istanbul and Ankara are divided into three electoral districts whereas İzmir and Bursa are divided into two each because of its large populations). To avoid a hung parliament and its excessive political fragmentation, from 1982 to 2022 a party must have won at least 10% of the national vote to qualify for representation in the parliament, but in 2022 this was reduced to 7%. As a result of the 10% threshold, only two parties won seats in the legislature after the 2002 elections and three in 2007. The 2002 elections saw every party represented in the previous parliament ejected from the chamber and parties representing 46.3% of the voter turnout were excluded from being represented in parliament. This threshold has been criticized, but a complaint with the European Court for Human Rights was turned down. Independent candidates may also run and can be elected without needing a threshold. Speaker of the parliament A new term in the parliament began on 23 June 2015, after the June 2015 General Elections. Deniz Baykal from the CHP temporarily served as the speaker, as it is customary for the oldest member of the TBMM to serve as speaker during a hung parliament. İsmail Kahraman was elected after the snap elections on 22 November 2015. Languages The parliament's minutes are translated into the four languages Arabic, Russian, English and French but not in the Kurdish language which is the second most native language in Turkey. Though phrases in the Kurdish language can be permitted, whole speeches remain forbidden. Members (since 1999) List