Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar answered questions about winter time/permanent daylight saving time during budget discussions.
Bayraktar stated that not implementing winter time, and implementing permanent daylight saving time throughout the year would be more beneficial and affirmed that the current practice will not change.
Opposition members of parliament criticized the practice of not transitioning to winter time, which has been ongoing since 2016.
"People who never see the daylight"
Republican People's Party (CHP) Ankara Deputy Deniz Demir remarked, "Thanks to you, a concept of 'people who never see the daylight' has emerged in society. Let's abandon this stubbornness and not create a depressive, unhappy society with our own hands."
"Everyone has fallen into depression because of you. While it has become clear that this practice does not save any money and is utterly meaningless, why is no one speaking up? Instead of savings, there is consumption, and it reflects on the bills," he said.
"Security concerns going to work in the morning"
People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Istanbul Deputy Keziban Konukcu Kok also criticized the practice: "We have the curse of permanent daylight saving time hanging over us. Workers experience security concerns when going to work in the morning, and unfortunately, the only beneficiaries of this practice are electricity production and distribution companies. The permanent daylight saving time practice continues solely for the profits of these companies," she said.
"Sun rises at 8:34 in Paris, at 8:30 in Berlin and at 8:20 in İstanbul"
Minister Bayraktar, in response to questions and criticisms regarding the issue, shared that in Turkey, the decision to implement winter time in the same periods as in Europe was made in 1940. He explained that Turkey practiced standard time throughout the year in intervals between 1962 and 1972, similar to today's practice. The same applied from 1978 to 1984, and after 1984, winter time was implemented to better align with Western countries.
Addressing criticisms from the parliamentary podium, the Minister stated: "On November 20, 2015, we conducted research on the impact of daylight saving time on energy efficiency under a protocol with İstanbul Technical University. There was an academic team of 11 people involved, including experts from the psychology counseling and guidance department, sociologists, and other technical professionals... The sun rises at 8:34 in Paris, and at 8:30 in Berlin, and at 8:20 in İstanbul. There are no issues there; I find it difficult to understand why we have problems."
Where the winter time practice is implemented, the clocks are set back by 1 hour in October. This practice, aimed at maximizing daylight, have not been implemented in Turkey since 2016. (AS/PE)
