Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated that he may consider running for office in the next elections. He sent a veiled signal to this effect in a conversation with Turkish singer Ibrahim Tatlises at a rally in the province of Sanliurfa.
After singing a song with the president, Tatlises asked him “if he was ready to run for president again“. “I am ready with you“, Erdogan replied.
Some local media interpreted this phrase as a signal that the head of state was considering the option of participating in new presidential elections. Although in the spring of 2023 he made it clear that at the end of his current term in 2028 he planned to give leadership to the "new generation".
Meanwhile, according to the law, Erdogan would need either changes to the constitution or the announcement of early elections to be re-nominated. According to some lawyers, under such options there would be no obstacles to his nomination. The ruling Justice and Development Party has so far rejected the option of early elections. At the same time, it intends to draft a new constitution and submit it to a referendum. But work on it is still ongoing without clear deadlines.
Erdogan was first elected in 2014, when the country had a parliamentary system. In 2018, he was re-elected under the presidential system. In 2023, he is running again on the grounds that the previous constitutional provisions have been nullified by the transition to a presidential system.