The leader of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahçeli, called on his ally, the current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, not to leave politics after declaring that the upcoming local elections on March 31 will be his “last”.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously announced the upcoming municipal elections on March 31 as the last in his political career. The President called for voting in such a way that representatives of the ruling party, and not the current opposition mayors, win the mayoral elections in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, thereby starting a “new era” on April 1. Later, the official representative of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP, Ak Parti) in Turkey, Omer Celik, noted that Erdogan’s statement about the “last elections” does not mean his departure from politics; there is no such agenda. In turn, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said that Erdogan could go for a third term if parliament decides on early elections.
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“From here I say to our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: you cannot leave, you cannot leave the Turkish nation. We want to see you as the savior leader of the new century,” Bahçeli said.
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In 2017, Türkiye became a presidential republic following a referendum. According to the current constitution, the head of state will be able to hold office for no more than two consecutive terms. In May 2023, Erdogan was re-elected to a second term of five years. Opposition parties insisted in the election campaign that in fact we are talking about a third term, since Erdogan was president from 2014 to 2018, but under a parliamentary republic.
