# Turkish presidential elections

Turkish presidential elections are held in Turkey as part of the general elections every five years, to determine who will serve as the President of Turkey.
There have been 22 elections for the President of Turkey since the establishment of the republic in 1923, electing 12 distinct Turkish citizens as president. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and İsmet İnönü were elected four times, Celal Bayar and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were elected three times, Cemal Gürsel, Cevdet Sunay, Fahri Korutürk, Turgut Özal, Süleyman Demirel, Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Abdullah Gül were each elected once. Kenan Evren became the president without an election, so that he assumed the title by the ratification of the present constitution on 7 November 1982 (Constitution of Turkey provisional article 1).

## History

Throughout the years, the nature and importance of Turkish presidential elections have changed as a result of constitutional amendments.

### Indirect elections (1923-2014)

Before 2014, the President was elected by MPs in the Turkish parliament.

### Direct elections since 2014

The 2014 presidential elections was the first direct election of a President, a result of a 2007 referendum created and backed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK party).

### Presidential system since 2018

Following the approval of constitutional changes in a referendum held in 2017, the elected President became both the head of state and head of government. As a result, the parliamentary system of government was replaced with an executive presidency and a presidential system.

## Acting presidents

In case of a temporary absence of the president on account of illness, travel abroad, or similar circumstances, the Vice President serves as acting president, and exercises the powers of the president until the president resumes his functions, and if the presidency falls vacant as a result of death or resignation or for any other reason, until the election of a new president.

## List of Turkish presidential elections

| Elections | Date | Eligible voters | Number of votes | Number of candidates | Winner | Number of Votes for Winner | Percentage of Vote |
| Indirect elections ||||||||
| 1st election | 29 October 1923 | 333 | 158 | 1 | Mustafa Kemal Atatürk | 158 | 100 |
| 2nd election | 1 November 1927 | 316 | 288 | 1 | Mustafa Kemal Atatürk | 288 | 100 |
| 3rd election | 4 May 1931 | 317 | 289 | 1 | Mustafa Kemal Atatürk | 289 | 100 |
| 4th election | 1 March 1935 | 399 | 386 | 1 | Mustafa Kemal Atatürk | 386 | 100 |
| 5th election | 11 November 1938 | 399 | 348 | 1 | İsmet İnönü | 348 | 100 |
| 6th election | 3 April 1939 | 429 | 413 | 1 | İsmet İnönü | 413 | 100 |
| 7th election | 8 March 1943 | 455 | 435 | 1 | İsmet İnönü | 435 | 100 |
| 8th election | 5 June 1946 | 465 | 451 | 3 | İsmet İnönü | 388 | 86 |
| 9th election | 22 May 1950 | 487 | 453 | 2 | Celâl Bayar | 387 | 85 |
| 10th election | 14 May 1954 | 541 | 513 | 2 | Celâl Bayar | 486 | 95 |
| 11th election | 1 November 1957 | 638 | 607 | 1 | Celâl Bayar | 434 | 71 |
| 12th election | 26 October 1961 | 541 | 513 | 1 | Cemal Gürsel | 486 | 95 |
| 13th election | 28 March 1966 | 636 | 532 | 2 | Cevdet Sunay | 461 | 87 |
| 14th election | 6 April 1973 | 635 | 557 | 4 | Fahri Korutürk | 365 | 66 |
| 15th election | 12 March 1980 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 16th election | 31 October 1989 | 450 | 285 | 2 | Turgut Özal | 263 | 92 |
| 17th election | 16 May 1993 | 450 | 431 | 4 | Süleyman Demirel | 244 | 57 |
| 18th election | 5 May 2000 | 550 | 533 | 10 | Ahmet Necdet Sezer | 330 | 62 |
| 19th election | 28 August 2007 | 550 | 448 | 3 | Abdullah Gül | 339 | 76 |
| Direct elections ||||||||
| 20th election | 10 August 2014 | 55,892,858 | 41,026,021 | 3 | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | 21,000,143 | 51.8 |
| 21st election | 24 June 2018 | 59,367,469 | 51,197,959 | 6 | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | 26,330,823 | 52.6 |
| 22nd election | 28 May 2023 | 64,197,419 | 54,023,616 | 4 | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | 27,834,692 | 52.2 |