Turkish presidential elections explained

Turkish presidential elections are held in Turkey as part of the general elections every five years, to determine who will serve as the President of Turkey.

There have been 22 elections for the President of Turkey since the establishment of the republic in 1923, electing 12 distinct Turkish citizens as president. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and İsmet İnönü were elected four times, Celal Bayar and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were elected three times, Cemal Gürsel, Cevdet Sunay, Fahri Korutürk, Turgut Özal, Süleyman Demirel, Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Abdullah Gül were each elected once. Kenan Evren became the president without an election, so that he assumed the title by the ratification of the present constitution on 7 November 1982 (Constitution of Turkey provisional article 1).

History

Throughout the years, the nature and importance of Turkish presidential elections have changed as a result of constitutional amendments.

Indirect elections (1923-2014)

Before 2014, the President was elected by MPs in the Turkish parliament.

Direct elections since 2014

The 2014 presidential elections was the first direct election of a President, a result of a 2007 referendum created and backed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK party).

Presidential system since 2018

Following the approval of constitutional changes in a referendum held in 2017, the elected President became both the head of state and head of government.[1] As a result, the parliamentary system of government was replaced with an executive presidency and a presidential system.[2]

Acting presidents

In case of a temporary absence of the president on account of illness, travel abroad, or similar circumstances, the Vice President serves as acting president, and exercises the powers of the president until the president resumes his functions, and if the presidency falls vacant as a result of death or resignation or for any other reason, until the election of a new president.

List of Turkish presidential elections

Elections Date Eligible voters Number of votes Number of
candidates
Winner Number of Votes
for Winner
Percentage of Vote
Indirect elections
29 October 1923 333 158 1 158 100
1 November 1927 316 288 1 288 100
4 May 1931 317 289 1 289 100
1 March 1935 399 386 1 386 100
11 November 1938 399 348 1 348 100
3 April 1939 429 413 1 413 100
8 March 1943 455 435 1 435 100
5 June 1946 465 451 3 388 86
22 May 1950 487 453 2 387 85
14 May 1954 541 513 2 486 95
1 November 1957 638 607 1 434 71
26 October 1961 541 513 1 486 95
28 March 1966 636 532 2 461 87
6 April 1973 635 557 4 365 66
12 March 1980 - - - - - -
31 October 1989 450 285 2 263 92
16 May 1993 450 431 4 244 57
5 May 2000 550 533 10 330 62
28 August 2007 550 448 3 339 76
Direct elections
10 August 2014 55,892,858 41,026,021 3 21,000,143 51.8
24 June 2018 59,367,469 51,197,959 6 26,330,823 52.6
28 May 2023 64,197,419 54,023,616 4 27,834,692 52.2

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Topping . Alexandra . Turkey referendum: Erdoğan wins vote amid dispute over ballots – as it happened . The Guardian . 16 March 2022 . 16 April 2017.
  2. News: Turkish parliament nears approval of presidential system sought by Erdoğan. Reuters. 19 January 2017.