The leader of Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has called for a constitutional amendment that would allow Erdoğan to run again in the election to be held in 2028, BBC Turkish service reported on Tuesday.
The Turkish Constitution currently stipulates that the president is subject to term limits, and may serve a maximum of two five-year terms held according to a fixed schedule. If snap elections were held in 2027 before the end of the second term, an additional term would be permitted.
“If a decisive blow is dealt to the inflation monster and Turkey reaches the pinnacle of political and economic stability, wouldn’t it be natural and right for our president … to be re-elected again? … Wouldn’t making the necessary constitutional amendment be among our upcoming duties?” MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli said during his party’s group meeting on Tuesday.
Bahçeli initially voiced objections to the prospect of Erdoğan’s retirement from politics in March in response to the president’s announcement that the local elections on March 31 would be his “last,” as stipulated by law.
“You can’t leave. You can’t leave the Turkish nation alone. We, the People’s Alliance, are with you. We want to see you as the savior-leader of the new century,” Bahçeli said then, appealing to Erdoğan.
Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the MHP, along with other small parties, are part of the People’s Alliance, and electoral alliance formed in 2018 to counter the Nation’s Alliance, formed by a group of opposition parties. The Nation’s Alliance was eventually dissolved due to disagreement and resentment following the election in May 2023 when Erdoğan secured yet another term in office.
Bahçeli’s call for a constitutional amendment comes amid longstanding speculation that Erdoğan might consider running for the presidency again if the law were amended.
Erdoğan was first elected president under a parliamentary system in 2014, but has held positions of power in Turkey for more than 20 years, initially as prime minister and later as president.
Questions arose about whether Erdoğan could run for a third term due to a change in the system of governance in 2017. Some claimed that he was not legally eligible to compete in the May 2023 election because he had already served two terms.
A constitutional referendum in 2017 abolished the parliamentary system and created an executive presidency, expanding Erdoğan’s influence. Turkey’s election authority did not count Erdoğan’s term under the parliamentary system, giving him an unprecedented third term as president.
Meanwhile, during a group meeting of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) in parliament, the MHP leader reiterated a call to imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), to urge the outlawed group to lay down its arms, hinting at the possibility of Öcalan’s release from prison.
“I stand by my words and remain firm in my proposal,” Bahçeli said, adding that Öcalan should be allowed to benefit from his right to hope if he declares the dissolution of the PKK, signaling an end to decades of violence.
The “right to hope” refers to an assessment of whether prisoners may be conditionally released after serving a portion of their sentence.
Bahçeli’s calls to Öcalan come as Ankara appears to be reconsidering the resumption of dialogue with the PKK after an almost 10-year freeze in peace efforts. The effort is thought to be an effort to prevent Iran from reaching out to Kurdish fighters to destabilize Turkey during a possible escalation with Israel, according to a report by Al-Monitor in October.
The PKK, which was designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, has been leading an armed insurgency since the 1980s that has claimed the lives of some 40,000 people in Turkey.