A presidential decree has made “GMT+3” the official permanent time zone of Turkey.
The decree, published in the Official Gazette on October 2, revoked a cabinet decision dated October 23, 2017 which said that the clocks would be moved forward one hour until October 28.
The Council of State, Turkey’s highest administrative court, on September 27 had ordered a stay of a previous cabinet decision to make daylight saving time last for the duration of the year.
The government’s decision to move to permanent daylight saving time has stirred a public debate, as some communities, especially some living in the western parts of the country, have complained about having to wake up in the dark well before sunrise, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
But former Energy and Natural Resources Minister, now Finance Minister, Berat Albayrak, has defended the practice, citing studies showing that advancing clocks year-round would increase productivity.
Turkey has traditionally used the “GMT+2” time zone on the grounds of its close ties with European countries.
The practice of advancing clocks one hour between March and November has been in place since 1970.
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