Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, has announced his readiness to run for another term in the 2028 presidential elections. Erdogan's senior advisor, Mohammed Ojum, has predicted that the elections will take place on April 16, 2028, a date that symbolically coincides with the anniversary of the 2017 referendum in Turkey that led to the transition to an executive presidential system.
Election Date and Legal Process
Ojum stated to the Turkish Press Council: "The elections will be held on April 16, 2028. This date holds symbolic significance as the anniversary of the referendum for the transition to the presidential system. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will run for the last time." The Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections are currently scheduled for May 14, 2028.
According to Article 116 of the Turkish Constitution, the parliament can vote to hold presidential and parliamentary elections before the end of the president's term. If the parliament takes this action during the second presidential term, the constitution allows the president to run again. This action requires the support of three-fifths of the parliament members, or 360 votes out of 600 representatives.
Political Situation and Challenges
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by Erdogan and its nationalist ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), do not have enough votes to reach the 360 threshold on their own and need support from representatives outside their coalition to advance this plan. The government has not officially announced a plan for parliamentary voting on early elections, but speculation has increased since Erdogan's remarks on September 10, indicating the AKP's need to prepare for "upcoming elections."
Erdogan was first elected as Prime Minister in 2003 and was elected President in 2014. He was elected to an executive presidency through a legal referendum in 2018 and was re-elected in 2023 under this electoral system. In 2023, the country's electoral council announced that Erdogan's first five-year presidential term under the current system began with the 2018 elections, allowing him to run for a second term in 2023.
Human rights groups have expressed concern about the treatment of Erdogan's opponents. Ekrem Imamoglu, the Mayor of Istanbul and a prominent opposition figure, was arrested in 2025 and is currently facing corruption charges that he and his supporters claim are politically motivated. Human rights organizations have described this case as part of a broader crackdown on dissent in the country.
