Elections in Turkey

Elections in Turkey are held for six functions of government: presidential elections (national), parliamentary elections (national), municipality mayors (local), district mayors (local), provincial or municipal council members (local) and muhtars (local). Apart from elections, referendums are also held occasionally.

The parliamentary elections are held every five years. The Parliament (Meclis) has 600 members, elected for a five-year term by a system based on closed list proportional representation according to the D'Hondt method. Political parties are subject to an electoral threshold of 7%. Smaller parties can avoid the electoral threshold by forming an alliance with bigger parties, in which it is sufficient that total votes of the alliance passes the 7%. Independent candidates are not subject to electoral threshold.

The presidential elections are held every five years. The president is elected for a term of office of five years and is eligible for one re-election. There is an exception when a president's second term ends prematurely through a decision of the Parliament. In this case, the president can be re-elected for a third term.

To put forward a referendum regarding constitutional amendments, a supermajority (three fifths of the votes) in the parliament is required first. These kinds of referendums are binding.

Turkey has a multi-party system, with two or three strong parties and often a fourth party that is electorally successful. Since 1950, parliamentary politics has mainly been dominated by conservative parties. Even the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) tends to identify itself with the "tradition" of Democrat Party (DP). While on the left side of the spectrum, parties like Republican People's Party (CHP), Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) and Democratic Left Party (DSP) have enjoyed the largest electoral success.

The constitutional referendum of 2017 enhanced the powers of the president, and since 2018, the focus has shifted from parliamentary to the presidential elections.

Schedule PastFuture 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 Constitutionalreferendum General(parliamentary & presidential) Local None None None General(parliamentary & presidential)Local None None None General(parliamentary & presidential) Bold: latest elections, italic: upcoming elections

List of elections Presidential elections

Date Election Notes 29 October 1923 1923 Turkish presidential election Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was elected founding president. 1 November 1927 1927 Turkish presidential election Mustafa Kemal Atatürk re-elected 4 May 1931 1931 Turkish presidential election Mustafa Kemal Atatürk re-elected 1 March 1935 1935 Turkish presidential election Mustafa Kemal Atatürk re-elected 11 November 1938 1938 Turkish presidential election İsmet İnönü succeeded Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 3 April 1939 1939 Turkish presidential election İsmet İnönü re-elected 8 March 1943 1943 Turkish presidential election İsmet İnönü re-elected 5 June 1946 1946 Turkish presidential election İsmet İnönü re-elected 22 May 1950 1950 Turkish presidential election Celâl Bayar succeeded İsmet İnönü 14 May 1954 1954 Turkish presidential election Celâl Bayar re-elected 1 November 1957 1957 Turkish presidential election Celâl Bayar re-elected 26 October 1961 1961 Turkish presidential election After the 1961 coup, Cemal Gürsel was elected president. 28 March 1966 1966 Turkish presidential election Cevdet Sunay succeeded Cemal Gürsel 6 April 1973 1973 Turkish presidential election Fahri Korutürk succeeded Cevdet Sunay 12 March 1980 1980 Turkish presidential election Parties failed to elect a president, 1980 coup d'état ensued 31 October 1989 1989 Turkish presidential election Turgut Özal succeeded Kenan Evren 16 May 1993 1993 Turkish presidential election Süleyman Demirel succeeded Turgut Özal 5 May 2000 2000 Turkish presidential election Ahmet Necdet Sezer succeeded Süleyman Demirel 28 August 2007 2007 Turkish presidential election Abdullah Gül succeeded Ahmet Necdet Sezer 10 August 2014 2014 Turkish presidential election Recep Tayyip Erdoğan succeeded Abdullah Gül 24 June 2018 2018 Turkish presidential election Recep Tayyip Erdoğan re-elected28 May 20232023 Turkish presidential electionRecep Tayyip Erdoğan re-elected

Parliamentary elections

The following sections give list of key results.

At first, Turkey had a unicameral legislature, with the main chamber being the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. This lasted until 1961, when the new Constitution of 1961 replaced the previous unicameral (one house) system with a bicameral (two house) one. The Grand National Assembly was downgraded to the position of the lower house whilst the newly founded Senate of the Republic became the upper house. However, the constitution of 1982 abolished the Senate and Turkey once again adopted a unicameral system.

Date Election21 July 1946 1946 Turkish general election14 May 1950 1950 Turkish general election2 May 1954 1954 Turkish general election27 October 1957 1957 Turkish general election15 October 1961 1961 Turkish general election10 October 1965 1965 Turkish general election12 October 1969 1969 Turkish general election14 October 1973 1973 Turkish general election5 June 1977 1977 Turkish general election6 November 1983 1983 Turkish general election29 October 1987 1987 Turkish general election20 October 1991 1991 Turkish general election25 December 1995 1995 Turkish general election18 April 1999 1999 Turkish general election3 November 2002 2002 Turkish general election22 July 2007 2007 Turkish general election12 June 2011 2011 Turkish general election7 June 2015 2015 Turkish general election (Jun)1 November 2015 2015 Turkish general election (Nov)24 June 2018 2018 Turkish general election 14 May 2023 2023 Turkish general election

Senate elections 1961–80 Date Election15 October 1961 1961 Turkish senate elections7 June 1964 1964 Turkish senate elections5 June 1966 1966 Turkish senate elections2 June 1968 1968 Turkish senate elections14 October 1973 1973 Turkish senate elections12 October 1975 1975 Turkish senate elections7 June 1977 1977 Turkish senate elections14 October 1979 1979 Turkish senate elections

Local elections The Turkish administrative system defines three different district types for local elections: villages, cities and metropolitan cities. The difference between cities and metropolitan cities derives from the size of the population. Cities with more than 750,000 residents are labeled as metropolitan cities while the rest are simply called cities. There are 31 metropolitan cities and 50 cities across Turkey, and voters in both will have a total of four votes. Citizens have the opportunity to vote for the following offices, depending on the type of area they reside:

People living in metropolitan cities: Metropolitan mayor District mayor District council members Muhtar

People living in cities: Provincial assembly members District mayor District council members Muhtar

People living in villages: Provincial assembly members Muhtar

This is a summary of the past local elections:

1930 Turkish local elections CHP: 502 municipalities SCF: 40 municipalities 1934 Turkish local elections 1938 Turkish local elections 1942 Turkish local elections 1946 Turkish local elections CHP: 54.65% DP: 43.35% 1950 Turkish local elections – September 3, 1950 DP: 560 municipalities CHP: 40 municipalities 1955 Turkish local elections 1963 Turkish local elections – November 17, 1963 AP: 45.48% CHP: 36.22% YTP: 6.51% MP: 3.09% CKMP: 3.06% TİP: 0.4% ...others 1968 Turkish local elections – June 2, 1968 AP: 49.06% CHP: 27.9% GP: 6.62% MP: 3.5% TİP: 2.72% BP: 1.64% ...others 1973 Turkish local elections – December 9, 1973 CHP: 37.09% AP: 32.32% DP: 10.75% MSP: 6.2% CGP: 2.9% MHP: 1.33% ...others 1977 Turkish local elections – December 11, 1977 CHP: 41.73% AP: 37.1% MSP: 6.91% MHP: 6.62% DP: 1.0% ...others 1984 Turkish local elections – March 25, 1984 ANAP: 41.52% SODEP: 23.35% DYP: 13.25% HP: 8.76% MDP: 7.09% RP: 4.4% Independent: 1.63% 1989 Turkish local elections – March 26, 1989 SHP: 28.69% DYP: 25.13% ANAP: 21.8% RP: 9.8% DSP: 9.03% MHP: 4.14% ...others 1994 Turkish local elections – March 27, 1994 DYP: 21.41% ANAP: 21.09% RP: 19.14% SHP: 13.53% DSP: 8.75% MHP: 7.95% CHP: 4.61% ...others 1999 Turkish local elections – April 18, 1999 DSP: 18.7% MHP: 17.17% FP: 16.48% ANAP: 15.03% DYP: 13.21% CHP: 11.08% ...others 2004 Turkish local elections – March 28, 2004 AKP: 41.6% CHP: 18.2% MHP: 10.4% DYP: 9.9% 2009 Turkish local elections – March 22, 2009 AKP: 38.99% CHP: 23.23% MHP: 16.13% ...others 2014 Turkish local elections – March 30, 2014 AKP: 43.31% CHP: 25.59% MHP: 17.63% ...others 2019 Turkish local elections – March 31, 2019 AKP: 44.32% CHP: 30.10% İYİ: 7.45% ...others 2024 Turkish local elections - March 31, 2024 CHP: 37.77% AKP: 35.49% YRP: 6.19% ...others

By-elections If too many seats become vacant in the parliament or if elections in a district is not properly conducted, then a by-election is required to take place. 1936 Turkish parliamentary by-elections 1945 Turkish parliamentary by-elections 1947 Turkish parliamentary by-elections 1948 Turkish parliamentary by-elections 1949 Turkish parliamentary by-elections 1951 Turkish parliamentary by-elections 1966 Turkish parliamentary by-elections 1968 Turkish parliamentary by-elections 1975 Turkish parliamentary by-elections 1979 Turkish parliamentary by-elections 1986 Turkish parliamentary by-elections 2003 Turkish parliamentary by-elections

Referendums

Date Referendum9 July 1961 1961 Turkish constitutional referendum7 November 1982 1982 Turkish constitutional referendum6 September 1987 1987 Turkish constitutional referendum25 September 1988 1988 Turkish constitutional referendum21 October 2007 2007 Turkish constitutional referendum12 September 2010 2010 Turkish constitutional referendum16 April 2017 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum

Voter turnout The voter turnout for the average of 18 parliamentary election is 81.4%; of the local elections is 78.7% and of the referendums is 83.1%. Turkey relatively has a high voter turnout rate comparing to modern democracies. The participation rate in Turkey is also higher than the participation rates in countries where compulsory voting is loosely applied. With the exception of 1960–1970, voter turnout rate in Turkey is above the world average from 1950 to the present in Turkey.

+ Voter turnout at parliamentary elections [1950-2023] 1950 1954 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1983 1987 89.3% 88.6% 76.6% 81.4% 71.3% 64.3% 66.8% 72.4% 92.3% 93.3% 1991 1995 1999 2002 2007 2011 2015 2018 2023 83.9% 85.2% 87.1% 79.1% 84.2% 83.2% 85.2% 86.2% 87.1%

See also Human rights in Turkey Censorship in Turkey Democracy in Turkey Democratic backsliding in Turkey List of cabinets of Turkey Multi-party period of the Republic of Turkey Parliamentary terms of Turkey Government of Turkey

References

Elections in Turkey

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