Türkiye: Türkiye will probably hold its 2028 elections earlier than expected, a presidential adviser said on Thursday, a move that would allow President Tayyip Erdogan to sidestep constitutional limits and run for office again.
The next presidential and parliamentary elections are currently scheduled to take place in May that year. Erdogan’s adviser, Mehmet Ucum, told reporters in Ankara that it was “now almost clear” the vote would take place in March or April 2028. Ucum did not specify what this would mean for the president’s plans.
However, his remarks were the clearest public backing yet from a senior figure for a proposal floated by Erdogan’s allies to reschedule the election and allow him to run for another term.
Erdogan has ruled Türkiye for nearly 23 years, first as prime minister and then as president.
A 2017 referendum introduced a new executive presidency system that allowed Erdogan to be re-elected as president in 2018 and 2023.
Although the new system imposed a two-term limit, the constitution allows him to run again if parliament calls an early election before he completes his current five-year term.
Türkiye’s opposition has also called for an early election, but says it wants the vote to give it an opportunity to challenge Erdogan’s economic policies rather than provide him with another chance to run.
“Reducing the issue to 'how can we get Tayyip Erdogan re-elected as President' is, from our point of view, simply unacceptable,” main opposition leader Ozgur Ozel said last week.
Devlet Bahceli, leader of the nationalist MHP, which is allied with Erdogan, last week called on parliament to hold elections at “an appropriate time” to allow “President Erdogan run for re-election”.
A three-fifths majority of parliament — 360 of its 600 lawmakers — is required to call an early election.
Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its allies hold 331 seats, leaving the alliance needing another 29 votes from other parties to secure the required majority. Winning that support could prove challenging.