Electoral cycle of Turkey

The Electoral cycle of Turkey is composed of three different types of elections, namely general elections every five years, local elections every five years and presidential elections every five years. Occasionally, referendums may be held if at least 360 Members of Parliament in the Grand National Assembly vote in favour of a constitutional amendment. Elections are overseen by the Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey.

Elections

edit

A summary of the purpose of each type of election is as follows.

Historical changes

edit

The 2007 constitutional referendum brought about significant changes to the Turkish electoral system, lowering the parliamentary terms from five years to four. As a result, general elections are now held every four years rather than five. Furthermore, the constitutional changes adopted in the referendum made the President elected by direct ballot rather than indirectly within parliament as had previously been the case. Before 2014, presidential elections were held every seven years by MPs, but are now held directly every five years. The incumbent may seek re-election once for a maximum of two terms, whereas the term limit for previous presidents elected indirectly were capped at one term.

With 2017 referendum, Turkey adopted semi-presidential republic system. Parliamentary terms reverted into five years, prime ministry dissolved and MP numbers increased.

Electoral cycle since 1923

edit
Turkish electoral cycle, 1923-1941
Election 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941
General 28 June 1923
CHP majority (single party)
20 July 1927
CHP majority (single party)
25 April 1931
CHP majority (single party)
8 February 1935
CHP majority (single party)
26 March 1939
CHP majority (single party)
Local 1930
CHP majority (single party)
1934
CHP majority (single party)
1938
CHP majority (single party)
Presidential 29 October 1923 (indirect)
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (CHP)
1 November 1927 (indirect)
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (CHP)
4 May 1931 (indirect)
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (CHP)
1 March 1935 (indirect)
Atatürk (CHP)
11 Nov 1938
(indirect)
İ. İnönü (CHP)
3 Apr 1939 (indirect)
İsmet İnönü (CHP)
Turkish electoral cycle, 1942-1960
Election 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960
General 28 February 1943
CHP majority (single party)
21 July 1946
CHP majority
14 May 1950
DP majority
2 May 1954
DP majority
27 October 1957
DP majority
Local 1942
CHP majority (single party)
26 May 1946
CHP majority
13 Aug-15 Oct 1950
DP majority
25 Sep-13 Nov 1955
DP majority
Presidential 8 March 1943 (indirect)
İsmet İnönü (CHP)
5 August 1946 (indirect)
İsmet İnönü (CHP)
22 May 1950 (indirect)
Celal Bayar (DP)
14 May 1954 (indirect)
Celal Bayar (DP)
1 November 1957 (indirect)
Celal Bayar (DP)
Turkish electoral cycle, 1961-1979
Election 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
General 15 October 1961
CHP-AP coalition
10 October 1965
AP majority
12 October 1969
AP majority
14 October 1973
Indept.-AP-CGP coalition
5 June 1977
CHP minority government
Local 17 November 1963
AP victory
2 June 1968
AP victory
9 December 1973
CHP victory
11 December 1977
CHP victory
Presidential 29 October 1961 (indirect)
Cemal Gürsel (independent)
28 March 1966 (indirect)
Cevdet Sunay (independent)
6 April 1973 (indirect)
Fahri Korutürk (independent)
Senate (A) 15 Oct 1961
AP lead
2 June 1968
AP victory
7 June 1977
CHP victory
Senate (B) 5 June 1966
AP victory
12 Oct 1975
CHP victory
Senate (C) 7 June 1964
AP victory
14 Oct 1973
CHP victory
14 Oct 1979
AP victory
Referendums 9 July 1961
YES
Turkish electoral cycle, 1980-1998
Election 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
General 6 November 1983
ANAP majority
29 November 1987
ANAP majority
20 October 1991
DYP-SHP coalition
24 December 1995
ANAP-DYP coalition
Local 25 March 1984
ANAP victory
26 March 1989
SHP victory
27 March 1994
DYP victory
Presidential 12 March 1980-11 September 1980 (indirect)
None (unsuccessful elections)
31 October 1989 (indirect)
Turgut Özal (ANAP)
16 May 1993 (indirect)
Süleyman Demirel (DYP)
Referendums 7 November 1982
YES
6 Sep 1987
YES
25 September 1988
NO
Turkish electoral cycle, 1999-2017
Election 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
General 18 April 1999
DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition
3 November 2002
AKP majority
22 July 2007
AKP majority
12 June 2011
AKP majority
7 June 2015
Hung parliament
1 November 2015
AKP majority
Local 18 April 1999
DSP victory
28 March 2004
AKP victory
29 March 2009
AKP victory
30 March 2014
AKP victory
Presidential 5 May 2000 (indirect)
Ahmet Necdet Sezer (cross-party)
28 August 2007 (indirect)
Abdullah Gül (AKP)
10 August 2014
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (AKP)
Referendums 21 October 2007
YES
12 September 2010
YES
16 April 2017
YES
Turkish electoral cycle, 2018 onwards
Election 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
General 24 June 2018
People's Alliance majority
14 May 2023
People's Alliance majority
Next
Local 31 March 2019
AKP victory
31 March 2024
CHP victory
Next
Presidential 24 June 2018
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (AKP)
14-28 May 2023
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (AKP)
Next
Referendums