Turkish presidential elections

For the most recent election, see 2023 Turkish presidential election.
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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
1st election 29 October 1923 333 158 1 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 158 100
2nd election 1 November 1927 316 288 1 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 288 100
3rd election 4 May 1931 317 289 1 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 289 100
4th election 1 March 1935 399 386 1 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 386 100
5th election 11 November 1938 399 348 1 İsmet İnönü 348 100
6th election 3 April 1939 429 413 1 İsmet İnönü 413 100
7th election 8 March 1943 455 435 1 İsmet İnönü 435 100
8th election 5 June 1946 465 451 3 İsmet İnönü 388 86
9th election 22 May 1950 487 453 2 Celâl Bayar 387 85
10th election 14 May 1954 541 513 2 Celâl Bayar 486 95
11th election 1 November 1957 638 607 1 Celâl Bayar 434 71
12th election 26 October 1961 541 513 1 Cemal Gürsel 486 95
13th election 28 March 1966 636 532 2 Cevdet Sunay 461 87
14th election 6 April 1973 635 557 4 Fahri Korutürk 365 66
15th election 12 March 1980 - - - -[a] - -
16th election 31 October 1989 450 285 2 Turgut Özal 263 92
17th election 16 May 1993 450 431 4 Süleyman Demirel 244 57
18th election 5 May 2000 550 533 10 Ahmet Necdet Sezer 330 62
19th election 28 August 2007 550 448 3 Abdullah Gül 339 76
Direct elections
20th election 10 August 2014 55,892,858 41,026,021 3 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 21,000,143 51.8
21st election 24 June 2018 59,367,469 51,197,959 6 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 26,330,823 52.6
22nd election 28 May 2023 64,197,419 54,023,616 4 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 27,834,692 52.2

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The ongoing election was called off because of the 1980 coup d'état.

References

  1. ^ Topping, Alexandra (16 April 2017). "Turkey referendum: Erdoğan wins vote amid dispute over ballots – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Turkish parliament nears approval of presidential system sought by Erdoğan". Reuters. 19 January 2017.
  • Roger P. Nye (1977). "Civil-Military Confrontation in Turkey: The 1973 Presidential Election". International Journal of Middle East Studies, 8, pp 209–228. doi:10.1017/S0020743800026957.