2023 Turkish presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Turkey in May 2023, alongside parliamentary elections, to elect a president for a term of five years.[1] Dubbed the most important election of 2023,[2][3] the presidential election went to a run-off for the first time in Turkish history.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]
Turnout
87.04% (first round) 
0.80pp
84.15% (second round) 
2.89 pp
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.[7] 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.[8]
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.[9][10] The government was criticised for its slow response to the earthquake and land amnesties prior to it that critics claimed left buildings more vulnerable.[11] 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.[12]
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.[13][14] 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.[15][16][17]
Electoral system[edit]
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.[30] If snap elections were held before the end of the second term, a third term would be permitted.[31][32] 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.[33]
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.[34] Elections are overseen by the Supreme Election Council (YSK).[35]
Controversies[edit]
Erdoğan's right to seek re-election[edit]
Before the 2018 elections, Turkish presidents were serving as heads of state within a parliamentary system. After the 2017 constitutional referendum, Turkey adopted a presidential system in which the president serves as the head of government. Some opposition politicians state that since Erdoğan was elected president twice in 2014 and 2018, he cannot be a candidate again unless an early election is called by the Parliament, as stated in Article 116 of the constitution.[25] Some jurists argue that since the presidential system was introduced in 2018 and a new office was formed apart from the similarity in name, the 2018 election was Erdoğan's first term in the new system and that he has the right to be a candidate again.[114][115]
Political violence[edit]
On 10 March, CHP parliamentary group deputy chair Özgür Özel claimed that Kılıçdaroğlu received assassination threats by unknown groups and was offered a minister's armoured vehicle by the government, but he rejected the proposal and kept his official car.[116]
On 7 May, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was attacked during a rally in Erzurum. His rally was interrupted due to stones thrown from the crowd.[117]
After the attack, İmamoğlu supporters rushed to the Sabiha Gökçen Airport in Istanbul to welcome and show support for him.[118] Erzurum's mayor Mehmet Sekmen said that there was no written application made from Republican People's Party's provincial chairmanship to hold a rally in Erzurum, and it was İmamoğlu "was the one who created the chaos by rallying in Erzurum".[119] The Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said that the incident was planned by İmamoğlu to aggravate the crowds.[120][121]
On 12 May, extensive security measures were taken before and during Kılıçdaroğlu's rally in Samsun following the rumours of assassination attempts of Kılıçdaroğlu. Citizens who wanted to attend the rally held in Republic Square were searched twice. Snipers were placed on the roofs of buildings located around the square. İmamoğlu and Kılıçdaroğlu, who took the stage to make their speeches, were seen wearing bulletproof vests. While Kılıçdaroğlu was giving his speech, a large guard group accompanied him on the stage armed.[122][123]
While visiting the burials of citizens who lost their lives during the earthquake in Adıyaman Province, Kılıçdaroğlu was subjected to a verbal attack while he was reciting Al-Fatiha. The same day, another person attempted a physical attack.[124][125]
Two days after the attack on İmamoğlu, Kılıçdaroğlu's vehicle was attacked with stones in Sakarya. The 15-year-old attacker was released after Kılıçdaroğlu decided not to press charges and he also asked for the anonymity of the child's identity.[126]
Erdoğan's photo on ballot paper[edit]
Erdoğan appeared with the same photograph on the ballot paper as the one he used for the presidential elections in 2014 and 2018.[127]
Fake videos[edit]
On the Sunday before the elections Erdoğan showed an altered version of an election commercial belonging to his main challenger Kılıçdaroğlu. This commercial was edited with footage of Murat Karayılan, one of the founders of the PKK, in an attempt to link Kilicdaroglu with the PKK.[128][129] In a television interview, Erdoğan was asked about the footage. He replied that it did not matter whether it was manipulated or not, and insisted that the claim the video made was nevertheless true.[130] Similarly, presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın said "Video edited by a group of witty young people. The elements put together in the video are real".[131] Kılıçdaroğlu called Erdoğan "fraudulent video fabricator".[132] Kılıçdaroğlu also filed a 1 million TRY non-pecuniary damage lawsuit against Erdoğan through his lawyer Celal Çelik.[133] On 25 May, the Ankara 6th Criminal Court of Peace blocked access to a troll account that shared fake footage used by Erdoğan during the election process, on the grounds that it "attacks personal rights".[133]
An allegedly fake sex video purporting to portray Muharrem İnce was circulated before he dropped out of the race.[134] İnce claimed that deepfake technology had been used to make the video and stated he had suffered "character assassination" and blamed the country's journalists and public prosecutors for not protecting him from the "fury of slander".[129] Erdoğan phoned İnce to express his support and condemned the video, calling the video "Gülenist tactics" as seen in the past.[135]
Block of Ekşi Sözlük[edit]
One day before the election, the website Ekşi Sözlük was blocked from access reasoned as "for the protection of national security and public order".[136]
Reporting of the results[edit]
On election night, the CHP complained about reports of Erdogan leading in the polls by the Anadolu Agency and produced its own numbers that held Kilicdaroglu as the leading candidate.[35] After Ömer Çelik of the AKP accused the CHP of trying to seize the will of the nation, Ekrem İmamoğlu of the CHP justified the reports of the opposition as they had learned from the past.[35] Anadolu is known to show the governing AKP as the leader with a large advantage in the first hours.[35][137] The first results mainly come from smaller rural towns, where Erdogan and his AK party are generally popular.[138]
There were also criticisms directed at the slow pace of counting ballots cast abroad. At the time of 90% of domestic ballots were counted, only 30.8% of ballots from abroad had been counted. Ahmet Yener of the Supreme Election Council said these delays were "normal" and that the increase in the number of ballots and contesting parties slowed counting.[139]
The YSP demanded a repetition of the election for Gaziantep, where according to the YSP two thousand potential YSP voters were not able to vote as they were inscribed as members of the ballot committee by the Patriotic Party (VP) without informing them.[140] The request was deemed an unreasonable objection by the provincial election presidency.[140]
Azerbaijani and Russian interference allegations[edit]
A few days before the first round, Kılıçdaroğlu and the CHP accused Russia of foreign electoral interference, claiming it to be the source of many "plots, montages and deepfakes".[141][142] The Russian Government rejected the claims.[143][141]
After Oğan's endorsement of Erdoğan, journalist Demirağ claimed that Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev arranged the meeting between Erdoğan and Oğan. Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality assembly member, Good Party group deputy chairman İbrahim Özkan criticized Oğan, saying that "he [Oğan] will do whatever Aliyev says".[144] Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli said that "pro-Aliyev media and trolls" campaigned against Kılıçdaroğlu, and adding that "Oğan has close relations with the Azerbaijani government", and that "Aliyev's role is certain in Oğan's decision".[145] A journalist asked Oğan if he met with Aliyev before taking this decision. Upon the question Oğan said that his interlocutors are Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu.[146] On 23 May, Adil Aliyev, deputy chairman of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan, made a propaganda speech on behalf of the People's Alliance in Melekli district of Iğdır, Oğan's hometown.[147]
Aftermath[edit]
Domestic[edit]
Erdoğan expressed his thanks to his supporters in a speech in Istanbul, saying that all 85 million citizens of the country were the "victors" in the elections,[154] while taunting his opponent's defeat with the words "Bye, bye, bay Kemal" ("bay" means "mr." in Turkish and has the same pronunciation as "bye").[155] Kılıçdaroğlu conceded defeat, saying, "My real sadness is about difficulties awaiting this country." He vowed to continue fighting against Erdoğan. He urged his supporters to continue to fight to uphold democratic principles and expressed frustration at the massive influx of refugees in his country, commenting that "Turkish people have become second class citizens."[156] Özdağ described the election results a pyrrhic victory. He also stated that Erdoğan won largely thanks to foreign voters, adding "the Victory Party is determined not to congratulate Erdoğan".[157] The Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I sent a congratulatory message to the re-elected President.[158]