Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 6 2010
Document exhibit marks 90th year of Parliament
An exhibition titled `90 Documents in 90 Years,’ showcasing pieces
from the Turkish Parliament’s archives, had its opening yesterday as
part of ongoing celebrations to mark the assembly’s 90th birthday.
The opening ceremony was held at Parliament’s Å?eref Hall with the
participation of Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Å?ahin, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an and former Parliament Speakers Bülent Arınç,
Köksal Toptan, Cahit KarakaÅ? and Ä°smet Sezgin. In his speech Å?ahin
said that celebrations on April 23, 2010 would not be sufficient on
the 90th birthday of Parliament to mark the honorable and important
role that the body has played in Turkish history. He also thanked
previous Parliament Speakers Arınç and Toptan for their work in
Parliament before he took office.
Expounding upon the exhibition Å?ahin explained that from amongst 12
million documents in the Parliament Document and Archive General
Directorate, 90 were chosen in particular that were from Parliament’s
earliest days. Noting that an exceedingly difficult task faced
Turkey’s first deputies, he said when Parliament first convened the
only light the deputies had to meet by was two gas lamps rounded up at
neighborhood coffeehouses.
The documents on display as part of the exhibition include the minutes
from a secret session held on Parliament’s second day, the first
verbal and written question motions submitted in Parliament, the
original text of Gazi Mustafa Kemal PaÅ?a’s (Atatürk) opening speech in
Parliament from 1924, documents related to customs agreements between
Parliament and Armenia, the law that entered the principle of
secularism into the Constitution and the constitutional change that
eliminated the death penalty.
Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an toured the exhibition alongside Å?ahin and
signed the exhibition guestbook, writing: `Beginning with Gazi Mustafa
Kemal, I commemorate all of the [past] members of Parliament who made
important contributions to the establishment of our republic. May
their souls be happy.’
06 January 2010, Wednesday
TODAY’S ZAMAN ANKARA