Municipal elections in Turkey at the end of March will be the last for the country's current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The head of state announced this on Friday, March 8, at a meeting of the youth organization TÜGVA. Erdogan referred to the powers given to him under the legislation.
At the same time, the 70-year-old politician expressed confidence that the conservative Justice and Development Party, of which he is the leader, will remain in power even after Erdogan leaves the post of head of state.
“The results of the local elections will be a blessing for my brothers who will come after me,” the politician emphasized.
The president himself is not directly involved in the March elections. However, the AKP faces the question of whether it will be able to win back Ankara and Istanbul from the opposition, dpa agency notes. In 2019, Ekrem Imamoglu from the opposition Republican People's Party became mayor of Istanbul as a result of elections. The current president led this city from 1994 to 1998.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been in power in Turkey for more than 20 years. In 2003, he was first elected prime minister, and in 2014, president. In 2018, Erdogan was re-elected to the highest government post. In 2023, he won the presidential election again, but only in the second round, defeating the single opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. The powers of the current head of state will expire in 2028.
