Presidential elections were held in Turkey in May 2023, alongside parliamentary elections, to elect a president for a term of five years. Dubbed the most important election of 2023,
the presidential election went to a run-off for the first time in Turkish history. The election had originally been scheduled to take place on 18 June, but the government moved them forward by a month to avoid coinciding with the university exams, the Hajj pilgrimage and the start of the summer holidays. It is estimated that a total of 64 million voters had the right to cast their votes in elections, 60.9 million in Turkey and 3.2 million abroad.
Incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) ran for re-election as the joint candidate of the People's Alliance, which includes the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and two other smaller parties. The Nation Alliance, composed of six opposition parties including the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), fielded CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as its presidential candidate. Though not part of the alliance, the pro-Kurdish Party of Greens and the Left Future (YSGP) and the Labour and Freedom Alliance (of which it is a member) endorsed Kılıçdaroğlu. Two other minor candidates, namely Homeland Party leader Muharrem İnce and anti-immigration ultranationalist Ancestral Alliance nominee Sinan Oğan, also reached the required 100,000 signatures to stand; however, three days before the election, İnce withdrew from the election citing consistent slander and smear campaigns against him by rival candidates, though he still appeared on ballots.
The main campaign issues revolved around the deadly February 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake, which left over 50,000 people dead and threatened to postpone the election date. The government was criticised by opposition politicians for its slow response to the earthquake and land amnesties prior to it that critics claimed left buildings more vulnerable. The economy also featured prominently due to the rapidly rising cost of living. In most polls, voters identified the economy as their prime area of concern.
In the first round Erdoğan and Oğan outperformed expectations to receive 49.5% and 5.2% of the vote respectively, while Kılıçdaroğlu received 44.9% and Muharrem İnce (who remained on the ballot despite withdrawing) 0.4%. As Erdoğan's vote share was 0.5% short of winning outright, he and Kılıçdaroğlu contested a run-off vote on 28 May. Oğan endorsed Erdoğan, while the elements of Ancestral Alliance split their support, as Victory Party leader Ümit Özdağ endorsed Kılıçdaroğlu and My Country Party leader Neşet Doğan endorsed Erdoğan. Erdoğan would be re-elected to a third term with 52.2% of the vote in the runoff.
This was incumbent President's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's eleventh election victory in a row going back to his election as Mayor of Istanbul in 1994. His victory was seen as a continuation of his nearly three-decades dominance over Turkish politics. In contrast, following Kılıçdaroğlu's narrow defeat, he was voted out as the leader of the CHP in November.
Presidential elections were held in Turkey in May 2023, alongside parliamentary elections, to elect a president for a term of five years. Dubbed the most important election of 2023, the presidential election went to a run-off for the first time in Turkish history. The election had originally been scheduled to take place on 18 June, but the government moved them forward by a month to avoid coinciding with the university exams, the Hajj pilgrimage and the start of the summer holidays. It is estimated that a total of 64 million voters had the right to cast their votes in elections, 60.9 million in Turkey and 3.2 million abroad.
Incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) ran for re-election as the joint candidate of the People's Alliance, which includes the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and two other smaller parties. The Nation Alliance, composed of six opposition parties including the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), fielded CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as its presidential candidate. Though not part of the alliance, the pro-Kurdish Party of Greens and the Left Future (YSGP) and the Labour and Freedom Alliance (of which it is a member) endorsed Kılıçdaroğlu. Two other minor candidates, namely Homeland Party leader Muharrem İnce and anti-immigration ultranationalist Ancestral Alliance nominee Sinan Oğan, also reached the required 100,000 signatures to stand; however, three days before the election, İnce withdrew from the election citing consistent slander and smear campaigns against him by rival candidates, though he still appeared on ballots.
The main campaign issues revolved around the deadly February 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake, which left over 50,000 people dead and threatened to postpone the election date. The government was criticised by opposition politicians for its slow response to the earthquake and land amnesties prior to it that critics claimed left buildings more vulnerable. The economy also featured prominently due to the rapidly rising cost of living. In most polls, voters identified the economy as their prime area of concern.
In the first round Erdoğan and Oğan outperformed expectations to receive 49.5% and 5.2% of the vote respectively, while Kılıçdaroğlu received 44.9% and Muharrem İnce (who remained on the ballot despite withdrawing) 0.4%. As Erdoğan's vote share was 0.5% short of winning outright, he and Kılıçdaroğlu contested a run-off vote on 28 May. Oğan endorsed Erdoğan, while the elements of Ancestral Alliance split their support, as Victory Party leader Ümit Özdağ endorsed Kılıçdaroğlu and My Country Party leader Neşet Doğan endorsed Erdoğan. Erdoğan would be re-elected to a third term with 52.2% of the vote in the runoff.
This was incumbent President's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's eleventh election victory in a row going back to his election as Mayor of Istanbul in 1994. His victory was seen as a continuation of his nearly three-decades dominance over Turkish politics. In contrast, following Kılıçdaroğlu's narrow defeat, he was voted out as the leader of the CHP in November.
The regular scheduled date for the first round of the elections was set for 18 June 2023. However, the electoral system allowed for moving the date forward. In 2020, there was speculation about a snap election prior to the regular one in 2023. At the time, Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of coalition partner MHP, ruled them out. In a written statement, he said that elections would not be held before 2023. He also confirmed that the current coalition between AKP and MHP will remain intact and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will be their joint nominee for President.
Discussion on snap elections
In early January 2023 the AKP mentioned eventual snap elections to take place on either on 16 or 30 April or on 14 May. But the so-called "Table of Six" composed by six opposition parties announced that they would not agree to snap elections after 6 April. On 18 January 2023, Erdoğan, the President of Turkey, signalled that the elections will be held earlier than the scheduled date, specifically on 14 May 2023, in a symbolic reference to the election victory of former Prime Minister Adnan Menderes on 14 May in the 1950 Turkish general election, defeating the candidate of the then governing CHP party. On 22 January 2023, Erdoğan stated that the elections will be held on 14 May. In view of that date, the "Table of Six" announced that Erdoğan cannot run for president without parliamentary consent.
Discussion on postponing election date
After a devastating earthquake struck the country in February 2023, Erdoğan announced a state of emergency for 10 affected provinces, which would end a week ahead of the election date of the 14 May. The opposition voted against the imposition in parliament. Then on 13 February 2023, Bülent Arınç, a former AKP Member of Parliament, alleged the elections could not be held in the current situation in either May or June, and the elections should be postponed. AKP spokesperson Ömer Çelik responded that Arınç's statement is his own personal view and does not bind the party. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu from the opposition party Republican People's Party (CHP) responded to Arınç's statement that the constitution would not provide a possibility to postpone the elections except in the case of war. Further, Mustafa Tolga Öztürk from the Good Party reasoned only the parliament has the authority to postpone elections and Selahattin Demirtaş from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) suspected such a measure would result in a political coup.
Election calendar
The Supreme Election Council announced the following election calendar for the 2023 presidential elections and the parliamentary elections.
18 March: The Supreme Election Council announces the official start of the election cycle.
19 March: Submission of candidacy applications to the Supreme Election Council.
20 March: Independent presidential candidates can apply until 17.00. Applications of independent candidates are examined by the Supreme Election Council and the candidates will be notified if their application is missing documents or other shortcomings as of 23:00.
21 March: Independent presidential candidates whose application has been rejected by the Supreme Election Council, can appeal and request a re-examination until 17:00.
Deadline for political parties to nominate a presidential candidate.
28 March: Announcement of the temporary list of presidential candidates and start of appeal applications.
31 March: Announcement of the final list of presidential candidates.
1 April: Presentation of ballot paper with the presidential candidates.
12 April: Finalization of the domestic and international voter registers.
27 April: Start of voting procedures at customs gates and abroad.
9 May: Deadline for voting abroad.
13 May: End of election campaigning and start of election silence at 18:00.
14 May: Voting day. Announcement of the temporary results of the presidential election at 23:59.
19 May: Announcement of the final election results by the Supreme Election Council.
15 May: Start of election campaigning for the second round of the presidential election.
20 May: Start of voting procedures at customs gates and abroad.
24 May: Deadline for voting abroad.
27 May: End of election campaigning and start of election silence at 18:00.
28 May: Voting day. Second round of the presidential election.
29 May: Announcement of the temporary results of the presidential election.
1 June: Announcement of the final results of the presidential election.
Electoral system
The President of Turkey is directly elected through the two-round system, under which a candidate must obtain a simple majority (more than 50%) of the popular vote to be elected. If no candidate secures an overall majority outright, then a runoff is held between the two most voted-for candidates from the first round, the winner of which is then declared elected. The first direct election to the Turkish presidency was held in 2014, after a referendum in 2007 abolished the previous system under which the head of state was elected by the legislature chamber, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The President of Turkey is subject to term limits, and may serve at most two five-year terms. If snap elections were held before the end of the second term, a third term would be permitted. Snap elections can be held either with the consent of 60% of the MPs in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey or ordered by presidential decree. Only snap elections via the consent of the Grand National Assembly during a president's second term can allow the president to serve a third term.
Prospective presidential candidates must be at least 40 years old and must have completed higher education. Any political party that has won 5% of the vote in the previous parliamentary election can put forward a candidate, although parties that have not met this threshold can form alliances and field joint candidates as long as their total vote share exceeds 5%. Independents can run if they collect 100,000 signatures from the electorate. Elections are overseen by the Supreme Election Council (YSK).
On 1 April, after a drawing conducted by the Supreme Electoral Council, the places of four presidential candidates on the ballot paper were determined as follows:
Nominations
According to article 101 of the Constitution of Turkey, amended following the 2017 constitutional referendum, any political party that has won 5% of the vote in the previous parliamentary election can put forward a candidate. The remaining candidates were required to collect at least 100,000 signatures.
Voters were able to give signatures to their preferred presidential candidate between 22 and 27 March at their local electoral council branch.
On 24 March, the New Welfare Party decided to join the People's Alliance. After this decision, Fatih Erbakan announced that he had ended the candidacy process in favour of Erdoğan.
Second round
The first round of elections showed a shift further to the nationalist sentiment.
Negotiations by Oğan and Özdağ
Oğan said that "Turkish nationalists and Atatürk supporters will be the decision-makers in the second round". Oğan demanded that he doesn't want any party, that he considers connected to terrorism, to have any role in the government. He is against the presence of a Kurdish party in the "political equation". He mentioned two parties specifically: HÜDA PAR, a Kurdish Islamist party allied with Erdoğan, and the pro-Kurdish HDP, which supported Kılıçdaroğlu. If Kılıçdaroğlu signed a protocol he would not make concessions to the HDP, he could receive Oğan's support. On 19 May, Kılıçdaroğlu visited the headquarters of the Victory Party and met with its leader Özdağ. The same day, Oğan met Erdoğan for negotiations, while Erdoğan told CNN International he "would not bow to Oğan's wishes", adding he's "not the kind of person who likes to bargain like this". Bahçeli published a message on the occasion of the Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day; alluding to Oğan, he said "those who pretend to have non-existent political power and turn politics into a horse market are opportunistic weaklings". On 22 May, AKP deputy chairman Numan Kurtulmuş visited Özdağ at Victory Party headquarters, where he stated that they shared similar ideas with the Victory Party on various issues such as national security and noted they hoped the party would support Erdogan in the second round. The same day, Özdağ and Kılıçdaroğlu came together for the second time. During the meeting, Özdağ presented a memorandum of understanding to Kılıçdaroğlu. Özdağ's main terms included "continuation of the trustee practice for the fight against terrorism" and "forcibly returning the immigrants within a year if necessary". He also said that they're "still trying to close the gates of hell", referring to Oğan's old quote.
Dissolution of ATA Alliance
On 21 May, it was announced that Kılıçdaroğlu would visit the Justice Party headquarters on 22 May. The same day, its leader Vecdet Öz announced his support of Kılıçdaroğlu, saying "it is essential to get rid of the current government", and adding that "staying neutral means giving indirect support to the current government". Later, Öz announced that the alliance has officially ended.
Endorsement of Erdoğan by Oğan
On 22 May, Oğan announced his endorsement of Erdoğan for the second round, while Özdağ stated that Oğan's statement doesn't bind the Victory Party. Later Erdoğan thanked Oğan, and added that there was "absolutely no bargaining" between them.
Özdağ's support for Kılıçdaroğlu
On 24 May, Özdağ announced his support for Kılıçdaroğlu. They signed a seven-point protocol, which reads as follows: