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.

Scene inside a polling station during the Turkish general election of 2015: a voter, election officials and a standard transparent ballot box.
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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's 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.[1]

Schedule
Past Future
20142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Local
Presidential		 General (June)
General (Nov.)		 None Constitutional
referendum		 General
(Parliamentary &
Presidential)		 Local None None None General
(Parliamentary &
Presidential)		 Local
  • Bold: latest elections, italic: upcoming elections

List of elections

Presidential elections
Main article: Turkish presidential elections
DateElectionNotes
29 October 19231923 Turkish presidential electionMustafa Kemal Atatürk was elected founding president.
1 November 19271927 Turkish presidential electionMustafa Kemal Atatürk re-elected
4 May 19311931 Turkish presidential electionMustafa Kemal Atatürk re-elected
1 March 19351935 Turkish presidential electionMustafa Kemal Atatürk re-elected
11 November 19381938 Turkish presidential electionİsmet İnönü succeeded Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
3 April 19391939 Turkish presidential electionİsmet İnönü re-elected
8 March 19431943 Turkish presidential electionİsmet İnönü re-elected
5 June 19461946 Turkish presidential electionİsmet İnönü re-elected
22 May 19501950 Turkish presidential electionCelâl Bayar succeeded İsmet İnönü
14 May 19541954 Turkish presidential electionCelâl Bayar re-elected
1 November 19571957 Turkish presidential electionCelâl Bayar re-elected
26 October 19611961 Turkish presidential electionAfter the 1961 coup, Cemal Gürsel was elected president.
28 March 19661966 Turkish presidential electionCevdet Sunay succeeded Cemal Gürsel
6 April 19731973 Turkish presidential electionFahri Korutürk succeeded Cevdet Sunay
12 March 19801980 Turkish presidential electionParties failed to elect a president, 1980 coup d'état ensued
31 October 19891989 Turkish presidential electionTurgut Özal succeeded Kenan Evren
16 May 19931993 Turkish presidential electionSüleyman Demirel succeeded Turgut Özal
5 May 20002000 Turkish presidential electionAhmet Necdet Sezer succeeded Süleyman Demirel
28 August 20072007 Turkish presidential electionAbdullah Gül succeeded Ahmet Necdet Sezer
10 August 20142014 Turkish presidential electionRecep Tayyip Erdoğan succeeded Abdullah Gül
24 June 20182018 Turkish presidential electionRecep Tayyip Erdoğan re-elected
28 May 2023 2023 Turkish presidential election Recep Tayyip Erdoğan re-elected

Parliamentary elections
Main article: Parliamentary elections in Turkey

The following sections give list of key results.[2]

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.

DateElection
21 July 19461946 Turkish general election
14 May 19501950 Turkish general election
2 May 19541954 Turkish general election
27 October 19571957 Turkish general election
15 October 19611961 Turkish general election
10 October 19651965 Turkish general election
12 October 19691969 Turkish general election
14 October 19731973 Turkish general election
5 June 19771977 Turkish general election
6 November 19831983 Turkish general election
29 October 19871987 Turkish general election
20 October 19911991 Turkish general election
25 December 19951995 Turkish general election
18 April 19991999 Turkish general election
3 November 20022002 Turkish general election
22 July 20072007 Turkish general election
12 June 20112011 Turkish general election
7 June 20152015 Turkish general election (Jun)
1 November 20152015 Turkish general election (Nov)
24 June 20182018 Turkish general election

Senate elections 1961–80
DateElection
15 October 19611961 Turkish senate elections
7 June 19641964 Turkish senate elections
5 June 19661966 Turkish senate elections
2 June 19681968 Turkish senate elections
14 October 19731973 Turkish senate elections
12 October 19751975 Turkish senate elections
7 June 19771977 Turkish senate elections
14 October 19791979 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:[3]

The following is a summary of the past local elections.

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
Main article: Referendums in Turkey
DateReferendum
9 July 19611961 Turkish constitutional referendum
7 November 19821982 Turkish constitutional referendum
6 September 19871987 Turkish constitutional referendum
25 September 19881988 Turkish constitutional referendum
21 October 20072007 Turkish constitutional referendum
12 September 20102010 Turkish constitutional referendum
16 April 20172017 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.[4]

Voter turnout at parliamentary elections [1950-2023]
1950195419571961196519691973197719831987199119951999200220072011201520182023
89.3%88.6%76.6%81.4%71.3%64.3%66.8%72.4%92.3%93.3%83.9%85.2%87.1%79.1%84.2%83.2%85.2%86.2%88%

See also

References
  1. Carkoglu, Ali (2022). "Chapter 21: Election Law in Turkey". In Schultz, Toplak (ed.). Routledge Handbook of Election Law. Routledge. pp. 247–256. ISBN 9781138393363.
  2. "Türkiye 2015 Genel Seçim Sonuçları". Archived from the original on 2015-06-09. Retrieved 2015-06-07.
  3. "Seven facts to know about Turkey's local elections". 29 March 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  4. Çaylak, Adem (25 October 2017). "Voter turnout in Turkey: a cross-national comparison". Journal of International Social Research. 10 (52): 352–351. doi:10.17719/jisr.2017.1897. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
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