Politics of Turkey


The politics of Turkey take place in the framework of a constitutional republic and presidential system, with various levels and branches of power.
Turkey's political system is based on a separation of powers. Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers, which is appointed and headed by the President, who serves as country's head of state and head of government. Legislative power is vested in the Grand National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Its current constitution was adopted on 7 November 1982 after a constitutional referendum.
Major constitutional revisions were passed by the National Assembly on 21 January 2017 and approved by referendum on 16 April 2017. The reforms, among other measures, abolished the position of Prime Minister and designated the President as both head of state and government, effectively transforming Turkey from a parliamentary regime into a presidential one.
Suffrage is universal for citizens 18 years of age and older.

National government

is a presidential representative democracy and a constitutional republic within a pluriform multi-party system, in which the president, parliament, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government.
The government is divided into three branches, as per the specific terms articulated in part three of the Turkish Constitution:
Legislative power is invested in the 600-seat Grand National Assembly of Turkey, representing 81 provinces. The members are elected for a five-year term by mitigated proportional representation with an election threshold of 7%. To be represented in Parliament, a party must win at least 7% of the national vote in a national parliamentary election. Independent candidates may run, and to be elected, they must only win enough to get one seat.
The freedom and independence of the judicial system is protected within the constitution. There is no organization, person, or institution which can interfere in the running of the courts, and the executive and legislative structures must obey the courts' decisions. The courts, which are independent in discharging their duties, must explain each ruling on the basis of the provisions of the Constitution, the laws, jurisprudence, and their personal convictions.
The Judicial system is highly structured. Turkish courts have no jury system; judges render decisions after establishing the facts in each case based on evidence presented by lawyers and prosecutors. For minor civil complaints and offenses, justices of the peace take the case. This court has a single judge. It has jurisdiction over misdemeanors and petty crimes, with penalties ranging from small fines to brief prison sentences. Three-judge courts of first instance have jurisdiction over major civil suits and serious crimes. Any conviction in a criminal case can be taken to a court of Appeals for judicial review.

Administrative divisions

The political system of Turkey is highly centralized. However, as a member state of the Council of Europe, Turkey is under an obligation to implement the European Charter of Local Self-Government. In its 2011 report, the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe found fundamental deficits in implementation, in particular administrative tutelage and prohibition of the use of languages other than Turkish in the provision of public services.

Political principles of importance in Turkey

The Turkish Constitution is cumulatively built on the following principles:
Most mainstream political parties are alternatively built either on the following principles:
Other political ideas have also influenced Turkish politics and modern history. Of particular importance are:
Image:Map-TurkicLanguages.png|thumb|300px|alt=Map of the world|Countries and regions where a Turkic language has official status
These principles are the continuum around which various – and often rapidly changing – political parties and groups have campaigned. On a superficial level, the importance which state officials attach to these principles and their posts can be seen in their response to breaches of protocol in official ceremonies.

Political parties and elections

Political parties

After World War II, Turkey started operating under a multi-party system.
On the center right to right side of the Turkish political spectrum, these parties have had large majorities:
Some other parties that have had similar politics but never had large majorities are:
Turkish right-wing parties are more likely to embrace principles of political ideologies such as conservatism, nationalism or Islamism.
On the far-right, there have been nationalist parties and Islamist parties:
On the center-left to left side of the spectrum, parties like Republican People's Party, Social Democratic Populist Party and Democratic Left Party once enjoyed the largest electoral success. Left-wing parties are more likely to embrace principles of social democracy, Kemalism or secularism.
On the far-left side, socialist and communist parties tend not to get large votes, but parties like the Workers' Party of Turkey have been able to get elected representatives in the parliament.

Elections

Elections in Turkey are held for six functions of government: presidential elections, parliamentary elections, municipality mayors, district mayors, provincial or municipal council members and muhtars.
Apart from elections, referendums are also held occasionally. To put forward a referendum regarding constitutional amendments, a supermajority in the parliament is required first. These kinds of referendums are binding.
In May 2023, President Erdogan won a new re-election and his AK Party with its allies held parliamentary majority in the general election.

Suffrage

Every Turkish citizen who has turned 18 has the right to vote and stand as a candidate at elections. Universal suffrage for both sexes has been applied throughout Turkey since 1934.
According to the Constitution of the Ottoman Empire, the age of candidacy was 30 and the voting age was 25. In the newly established Republic of Turkey, the voting age was reduced to 18 due to the decreasing population, and the age of candidacy was still 30. The voting age was increased to 22 in 1934, decreased to 21 in 1987, and 18 in 1995.
The age of candidacy dropped from 30 to 25 through a constitutional amendment in 2006. Following the 2017 constitutional referendum, it was further lowered to 18.

Financing

Political parties can use donations, dues, real estate income and income from party activities to continue their activities. Since 1965, the Treasury also gives money to political parties. According to the law, parties that participated in the last parliamentary elections and that passed the general threshold are paid 0.04% of the general budget revenues each year. Apart from this, the parties that received more than 3 percent of the votes despite being below the threshold are also given public funding in proportion of support. This amount triples in election years.
Political parties can't receive aid or donations in kind or in cash from foreign states, international organizations and entities not of Turkish nationality. The same rule applies for candidates in presidential elections.
Anonymous donations to political parties are also not allowed. It should be clearly stated in the receipt given by the party that the donation belong to the donor or the donor's authorized representative or attorney. Donations by political parties cannot be accepted without relying on such a document. Donations from domestic corporations with government ownership are also not allowed.
According to article 74 of the Political Parties Law, the financial control of political parties is carried out by the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court supervises the compliance of the property acquisitions, income and expenses of political parties with the Law. Presidents of political parties are obliged to submit a certified copy of the final account and the final accounts of the local organizations, including the party headquarters and its affiliated districts, to the Constitutional Court and to the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court for information, until the end of June.