At stake in this election:

• The office of the President

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Abdullah GUL *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN**
• Assembly: Turkey has a unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkey Buyuk Millet Meclisi) with 550 seats

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5 year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the President
• In the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi) 550 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

* President Abdullah GUL has announced he will not run for re-election.  

** Prime Minister ERDOGAN’s party, the Justice and Development Party / AKParti (AKP) came to power in 2002 and has lasted longer than any government since Turkey adopted a multiparty democratic system in 1950.

** There are 79 MMD corresponding to the provinces. Each party must clear a national threshold of 10 percent and at least one D’Hondt quotient in the district from which it is elected. Additionally, a candidate may be seated only if his party is organized in one-third of districts within each of half of the provinces, and has nominated two candidates for each seat in at least half of provinces.  

Election Note:

• Having served three-terms as Prime Minister, ERDOGAN is unable to run for re-election by his party’s internal rules and his presidential bid may serve to consolidate his power as President. Previously, the President of Turkey was a ceremonial post, but ERDOGAN has in recent years pushed to strengthen the power of the presidency. In 2007, as the result of a constitutional referendum almost 70 percent of Turkish citizens voted in favor of allowing the President to be directly elected by voters, rather than by parliament.

Political entities in this electoral race:[1]

• Candidate: Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN
  • Party: Justice and Development Party (AKP)
• Candidate: Ekmeleddin IHSANOGLU[2]
  • Party: Republican Peoples Party (CHP) - National Action Party (MHP)
• Candidate: Selahattin DEMIRTAS
  • Party: People’s Democratic Party (HDP)

Last election:

• Abdullah GUL was the last president elected by members of the parliament or Grand National Assembly of Turkey. As outlined in a 2007 constitutional amendment, this will be the first directly elected presidential contest in the history of Turkey. 

Population and Voter Registration:

• Population: 81,619,392 (July 2014 est.)
• Registered Voters: 50,189,930 (2011 est.)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 39,414,618 (2014)

·         Is Turkey a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Turkey ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (20 December 1985)

·         Gender Quota: No (there are some political parties that have adopted voluntary gender quotas)

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 79 (following the 2011 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 72 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Turkey a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Turkey ratified CRPD: Yes (28 September 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 12,242,908 (est.)