Turkey’s 2023 Presidency Debate and Constitutional Questions
The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to be a candidate for the last time in the June 2023 elections, sparking debate about the legality of his candidacy in Turkey, as reported by Turkish media on Sunday.
President Erdogan stated that in 2023 the nation would begin building Turkey’s Century with the support he asks from the people for the last time on his behalf, and that he would carry the blessed flag to the youth. These remarks were made during a speech published by Cumhuriyet in Samsun.
Opposition voices interpret this as an indication that Erdogan does not plan to run again in the 2028 election and that the Constitution might not even permit a candidacy in 2023. A social democrat deputy, Ali Mahir Basarir, commented on social media that Erdogan announced a last time candidacy in 2023, but Article 101 of the Constitution and the Presidential Election Law render that impossible in 2023, according to his view.
Historically, Erdogan served as prime minister from 2003 to 2014 and was elected president under Turkey’s 2007 constitution. In 2017, he supported a constitutional reform that removed the prime minister role and shifted executive powers to the presidency, a change approved by a slim referendum majority. A year later, he won the presidential elections under the new system, which limits presidents to two terms.
The opposition notes that Erdogan, who was elected president in 2014 and again in 2018, has already exhausted two terms and would not be eligible to run in June 2023 under the prior framework. The ruling AKP party argues that terms should be counted from the 2018 elections, arguing that the systemic changes mean this is effectively a different office with distinct qualifications.
The broader debate centers on how the constitutional changes interact with presidential eligibility, the interpretation of term limits, and how the public discourse shapes voter expectations ahead of the 2023 elections. Analysts suggest that the outcome will hinge on constitutional interpretations and how party officials frame shifts in power under the new system, as cited by multiple Turkish media outlets and political observers.