Turkey Considers Daylight Saving All Year Round

In the meantime, the country will end its daylight saving schedule for 2008 when the clocks turn back by one hour on October 26.

On August 13, 2008, mungfali.galihkartiwa07.workers.dev contacted Turkey’s General Directorate of Energy Affairs. A spokesperson advised that no concrete decision had been made about the 12-month daylight saving plan and some proposals related to energy issues were still being discussed. mungfali.galihkartiwa07.workers.dev also contacted various government offices, including the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, but they were unable to clarify the precise time daylight saving would end in Turkey in 2008. The Turkish Embassy’s press office in the United Kingdom confirmed the finishing date and time of the country’s daylight saving schedule in 2008.

A Step Further for the 12-month Daylight Saving Proposal

According to newspaper Hürriyet, Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Ministry reached a consensus with the relevant institutions regarding implementing daylight saving time all year round and a change of reference meridian. However, the Council of Ministers need to approve the proposed changes and if it is approved, airlines, banks, stock exchange organizations and other organizations have two years to adapt to the changes before an all-year daylight saving schedule is implemented.

Debate among Government Agencies

In March, 2008, Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler announced that the government considered implementing daylight saving time all year round, according to Anatolian Agency. After a meeting in Ankara, the Energy Minister told reporters about plans to implement daylight saving time all year round. Guler’s proposition sparked a reaction from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, which objected to the proposal, saying that such a plan would increase the time difference between Turkey and other countries in Europe and could have negative effect on trade relations.

Daylight Saving Schedule in 2008

Turkey began its daylight saving time on March 30, 2008, when the clocks moved forward by one hour at 3am. During the daylight saving period, Turkey is on Eastern European Summer Time (EEST), which is three hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Daylight saving time ends on the last weekend of October in 2008 when the clocks will be set back by one hour on October 26. Turkey will then observe Eastern European Time (EET) which is two hours ahead of UTC. Daylight saving time has been implemented in Turkey in previous years for the following reasons: to save electricity; to ensure Turkish time is in synchronization with times in most European countries; and to decrease the evening energy demand.

Year	Start date	End date	Daylight duration
1973	Jun 3	Nov 4	22 weeks
1974	Mar 31	Nov 3	31 weeks
1975	Mar 22	Nov 2	32 weeks and 1 day
1976	Mar 21	Oct 31	32 weeks
1977	Apr 3	Oct 16	28 weeks
1978	Apr 2	Jun 29	12 weeks and 4 days
1983	Jul 31	Oct 2	9 weeks
1985	Apr 20	Sep 28	23 weeks
1986	Mar 30	Sep 28	26 weeks
1987	Mar 29	Sep 27	26 weeks
1988	Mar 27	Sep 25	26 weeks
1989	Mar 26	Sep 24	26 weeks
1990	Mar 25	Sep 30	27 weeks
1991	Mar 31	Sep 29	26 weeks
1992	Mar 29	Sep 27	26 weeks
1993	Mar 28	Sep 26	26 weeks
1994	Mar 20	Sep 25	27 weeks
1995	Mar 26	Sep 24	26 weeks
1996	Mar 31	Oct 27	30 weeks
1997	Mar 30	Oct 26	30 weeks
1998	Mar 29	Oct 25	30 weeks
1999	Mar 28	Oct 31	31 weeks
2000	Mar 26	Oct 29	31 weeks
2001	Mar 25	Oct 28	31 weeks
2002	Mar 31	Oct 27	30 weeks
2003	Mar 30	Oct 26	30 weeks
2004	Mar 28	Oct 31	31 weeks
2005	Mar 27	Oct 30	31 weeks
2006	Mar 26	Oct 29	31 weeks
2007	Mar 25	Oct 28	31 weeks
2008	Mar 30	Oct 26	30 weeks
2009	Mar 29	Oct 25	30 weeks
2010	Mar 28	Oct 31	31 weeks
2011	Mar 28	Oct 30	30 weeks and 6 days
2012	Mar 25	Oct 28	31 weeks
2013	Mar 31	Oct 27	30 weeks
2014	Mar 31	Oct 26	29 weeks and 6 days
2015	Mar 29	Nov 8	32 weeks