The 2023 Turkish general election will be held on 18 June 2023.

Presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

are held to elect the President of Turkey using a

two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...

. Simultaneously,

parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

are held to elect 600

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

to the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Cons ...

Background

Elections of 2018

The previous Turkish general election took place in 2018. The election marked the country's transition from a

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...

to a presidential one, as narrowly endorsed by voters in the 2017 constitutional referendum. That election resulted in a victory for incumbent president

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to ...

, who had held the position since 2014. Meanwhile, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) lost its absolute majority in the

for the first time since June 2015, forcing it to rely on its coalition partner, the

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party (alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party; tr, Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP) is a Turkish far-right and ultranationalist political party. The group is often described as neo-fascist, and has bee ...

(MHP) of Devlet Bahçeli, to pass legislation. The office of the

Prime Minister of Turkey The prime minister of the Republic of Turkey (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Başbakanı'') was the head of government of the Republic of Turkey from 1920 to 2018, who led a political coalition in the Grand National Assembly of ...

was abolished on 12 July 2018, and its last holder,

Binali Yıldırım Binali Yıldırım (; born 20 December 1955) is a Turkish politician who served as the 27th and last Prime Minister of Turkey from 2016 to 2018 and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 2018 to 2019. He was Leader of the Justice and Deve ...

, took office as the

Speaker of the Grand National Assembly This article lists the speakers of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The name of the parliament of the Republic of Turkey, originally and currently the Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi) since its est ...

. Although there were speculations about a snap election prior to the regular one in 2023, Bahçeli ruled them out. In a written statement, he said that elections would not be held before 2023. He also confirmed that the current coalition between AK Party and MHP will remain intact and Erdoğan will be their joint nominee for President. On 9 June 2022, Erdoğan declared his candidacy.

Presidential election

Declared

, 12th President of Turkey (2014–present), 25th

(2003–2014),

Mayor of Istanbul This is a list of mayors of Istanbul, Turkey. This covers the Ottoman Empire to the modern day; the name of the city in English is Constantinople during the Ottoman period and in the Republican era until 1930. Ottoman Empire During 1453 ...

(1994–1998) * Cem Uzan, former leader of the Young Party (GP) * Muharrem İnce, leader of the Homeland Party, former CHP candidate for president in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

* Sinan Oğan, former member of the parliament from MHP (2011–2015) (''running as Independent'') File:Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ukraine.jpg, alt=,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

File:Cem Uzan (cropped).jpg, Businessperson Cem Uzan from Sakarya File:CHP 2018 manifesto launch 1 (cropped).jpg, Leader of Homeland Party Muharrem İnce from

Yalova Yalova is a market-gardening town located in northwestern Turkey on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. The town has a population of 156,838, while the population of the surrounding Yalova Province is 291,001 . A largely modern town, it is ...

File:Sinan ogan (cropped).jpg, Former MHP

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Sinan Oğan from Iğdır

Potential candidates

* Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party i ...

, leader of the opposition * Pervin Buldan, co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party, Deputy Speaker of Parliament (2015–2018) * Ahmet Davutoğlu, leader of the Future Party, 26th

(2014–2016), 42st

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

(2009–2014) *

Ali Babacan Ali Babacan (; born 4 April 1967) is a Turkish politician, economist, and engineer. He is the founder and current leader of the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA). He served 13 years as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Economy, Chie ...

, leader of the Democracy and Progress Party, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey (2009–2015), 41st

(2007–2009),

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...

(2002–2007) *

Gültekin Uysal Gultekin Uysal (born 1976 in İscehisar, Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey) is a Turkish politician and businessman who has been the chairman of the Democratic Party (DP), since May 2012. In 2018 election he was elected on the İYİ Party list b ...

, leader of the Democrat Party * Temel Karamollaoğlu, leader of the

Felicity Party The Felicity Party ( tr, Saadet Partisi, SP) is an Islamist Turkish political party. It was founded in 2001, and mainly supported by conservative Muslims in Turkey. It was founded on 20 July 2001 after the Virtue Party (FP) was banned by the ...

, Mayor of Sivas (1989–1995), candidate for president in

Fatih Erbakan Muhammed Ali Fatih Erbakan (born January 1, 1979, Ankara) is a Turkish engineer and politician who is the founder and leader of the New Welfare Party (YRP). A son of Necmettin Erbakan, the former Prime Minister of Turkey who led the YRP's pre ...

, leader of New Welfare Party * Abdullah Gül, 11th President of Turkey (2007–2014), 24th

(2002–2003), 40th

(2003–2007) * Süleyman Soylu,

Minister of Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

(2016–present), Minister of Labour and Social Security (2015–2016) * Doğu Perinçek, leader of Patriotic Party, candidate for president in

* Tansu Çiller, 22nd

(1993–1996), 36th

(1996–1997),

(1991–1993) * Mustafa Sarıgül, leader of Party for Change in Turkey, Mayor of Şişli (1999–2014) * İlhan Kesici,

from

. * Haşim Kılıç, Former Supreme Court judge and President of the

Constitutional Court of Turkey The Constitutional Court of Turkey ( tr, , sometimes abbreviated as ''AYM'') is the highest legal body for constitutional review in Turkey. It "examines the constitutionality, in respect of both form and substance, of laws, decrees having the for ...

(2007–2015)

Declined to be candidates

* Devlet Bahçeli, leader of

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

(1999-2002) * Ekrem İmamoğlu,

(2019–present), Mayor of Beylikdüzü district (2014–2019) *

Mansur Yavaş Mansur Yavaş (; born 23 May 1955) is a Turkish lawyer and politician who is currently the Mayor of Ankara, holding the office since April 2019. He was elected in the 2019 local election as the candidate of the Nation Alliance, an opposition all ...

, 29th Mayor of Ankara (2019-present), Mayor of Beypazarı district (1999-2009) * Meral Akşener, leader of the Good Party,

(1996-1997), İYİ candidate for president in

, she instead expressed that she’d like to run for Prime Minister instead.

Parliamentary election

Contesting parties

References

{{Turkish presidential elections General elections in Turkey

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

Future elections in Turkey