Turkish President and leader of the majority AKP party, Tayyip Erdoğan, spoke yesterday for the first time of his retirement after more than 20 years in power, assuring that the upcoming local elections to be held at the end of March “will be the last for me“.
Speaking at a meeting in Istanbul, Erdoğan – 70 years old and in power since 2003, first as Prime Minister and then as President of the Republic – stressed the importance of the period ahead: “As you know, 31 March marks a before and an after in Turkey. And on this date the eyes of the entire Islamic world will be on Turkey. What will happen in Turkey?” he declared.
“I continue my work without a break. We are literally running out of breath. Because for me, this is an end. With the authority given by law, this election will be the last for me; but the result that comes out of it, will be a transfer of trust for the brothers who come after me,” Erdoğan said referring to his possible succession.
This is certainly a burning question in his AKP party, where there is no clear candidate to succeed him at the head of the party, let alone the Turkish presidency, whose Constitution states that the presidential term lasts five years and that a person cannot be elected for more than two presidential terms. After his second victory in the 2023 presidential elections, if no constitutional reform is implemented his term would come to an end in four years’ time, in 2028.
Erdoğan, who said he believes in and trusts the new generations, also expressed confidence that his Justice and Development Party (AKP) will continue to rule after he has left. “Hopefully we can achieve a transformation in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir (after the March elections),” he said, referring to Turkey’s three largest cities, which have been ruled by the main opposition party since the 2019 municipal elections.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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