Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will seek a new mandate through early elections, bypassing the Constitution that prevents him from continuing in office after 2028, one of his advisers said today.
© REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
17/09/2026
by
Lusa
A presidential election would be held on April 16, 2028, said Mehmet Uçum, legal adviser to Erdogan, various organs of the Turkish press, i.e. a month before the end of his current five-year term.
However, this electoral initiative is subject to the condition that it is supported by a minimum of 360 of the 600 Members of Parliament, it has continued.
The Justice and Development Party (AKP, led by Erdogan and conservative nationalist orientation, currently holds 326 seats with its allies in parliament.
Uçu had already made the possibility, in June, of dissolution of parliament and convening early elections.
The 72-year-old head of state could also count on the support of parliamentarians from other parties, according to analysts, or launch a constitutional reform project.
In power since 2003, initially as Prime Minister and since 2014, as President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan would seek a fourth term.
Re-elected for the last time in May 2023, the Head of State had stated that this would be his last term and that in the end he would hand over the fate of the country to “youth”.
A number of recent statements suggest, however, that the Turkish President — who has no natural successor — wishes to remain in power.