Presidential elections were held in Turkey on 10 August 2014 in order to elect the 12th President. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected outright with an absolute majority of the vote in the first round, making a scheduled run-off for 24 August unnecessary.
The election took place under reforms resulting from the 2007 constitutional referendum, which introduced a direct national vote, rather than election by members of the parliament. Over 55 million people were eligible to vote, both within Turkey and abroad.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leader of the AK Party and prime minister since 2003 after winning the 2002 Turkish general election, won with 51.79% of the vote. Former Organisation of Islamic Cooperation General Secretary Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, who ran as the joint candidate of 13 opposition parties including the Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), came second with 38.44%. The co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş, who received the backing of 8 left-wing parties, came third with 9.76%.
Erdoğan took over as president from Abdullah Gül on 28 August, while Ahmet Davutoğlu, who was elected leader of the AK Party, succeeded Erdoğan as prime minister on the same date. It has been speculated that Erdoğan will continue to pursue his political agenda as president while Davutoğlu takes a docile approach as prime minister, breaking away from the ceremonial and neutral functions of the presidency and potentially pursuing constitutional changes to turn Turkey into a presidential or semi-presidential system.
The election was criticised by both the political opposition and international observers for alleged media bias in favour of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, corruption allegations, the inaccuracy of opinion polls and the misuse of official public resources during Erdoğan's campaign. While praising the authorities for safeguarding the right to assembly as well as the peaceful electoral conduct, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) voiced concerns over the unequal distribution of campaign resources and media intimidation. The historic 12-year low turnout of 74.13%, attributed to the fact that the election was held in summer while many citizens were on holiday, was seen by many politicians such as MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli as a significant factor in affecting the outcome. The election loss for the opposition CHP resulted in its leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu taking the decision to hold a party convention with a leadership election in response to growing dissatisfaction against his electoral performance.
Background The Law on Presidential Elections accepted and put into effect on 20 January 2012 decided that presidential elections will be held in 2014 instead of 2012; within 60 days before the end of the seven-year term of incumbent president of Turkey Abdullah Gül, who will be the last indirectly elected President of Turkey. As Gül took office on 28 August 2007, the first possible day could be 29 June, but a date between 10 and 17 August is considered more reasonable.
It was decided in the same law that former presidents Kenan Evren, Süleyman Demirel, Ahmet Necdet Sezer and incumbent Abdullah Gül could not be nominated for a second term, but this was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Turkey, allowing them to run for a second term. Also, the Prime Minister of Turkey could be nominated for the presidency without having to resign from his post.
The presidential-election campaigns were declared to be held in an "American manner", where candidates could accept personal donations for their campaigns; however, one person could not donate more than 8,259 TL (approximately US$4,500) to a campaign.
Official candidates Three candidates were nominated to participate in the election. A more detailed list of parties that endorsed them can be found in the "List of parties by presidential candidates" section.
Parliamentary nomination process
To run for election, a candidate needs to be nominated by at least 20 Members of Parliament in the Grand National Assembly, which constitutes to 3.73% of all sitting members. The parties represented in parliament are the AK Party, CHP, MHP, HDP, DBP and 14 independents, meaning that smaller parties such as the Felicity Party (SP) and the Great Union Party (BBP) could not nominate their own candidates due to the lack of parliamentary representation. Three candidates obtained sufficient endorsements from parliament in order to register with the Supreme Electoral Council. The Electoral Council forbids any potential candidate from nominating themselves, since this would give unfair advantage to prospective candidates who were sitting Members of Parliament. The AK Party began collecting signatures for an unnamed candidate from all 311 eligible MPs out of their 312-seat total, with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan being the only MP to not sign. Due to the debate on whether the CHP's candidate Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu adhered to secular and Kemalist principles, 21 CHP MPs boycotted the nomination process. Six CHP MPs protested their leader's choice of candidate by attempting to nominate Emine Ülker Tarhan instead, though she herself stated that she would not stand as a candidate. Out of the 14 independent MPs, three supported İhsanoğlu while two supported Demirtaş, with the remaining 9 boycotting the process altogether. Only 536 seats out of the 550 are occupied, with many vacant MPs having resigned or serving prison sentences due to their roles in the PKK, or the Sledgehammer and Ergenekon coup trials.
CandidateEndorsing partiesNomination datePotential signaturesActual signatures% of potential% of all MPsResult Recep Tayyip ErdoğanAK Party1 July 201431231199.6858.02 Nominated Ekmeleddin İhsanoğluCHP, MHP 30 June 201418216389.5630.41 Nominated Selahattin DemirtaşHDP, DBP 3 July 20142830100.005.60 Nominated Emine Ülker TarhanCHP1 July 201413064.621.12 Eliminated Masum TürkerDSP2 May 2014000.000.00 Eliminated536510-92.733 candidates
Lists parties with parliamentary representation only Number of MPs from the parties that support these candidates, discounting independents Was named the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), changed its name after the election Emine Ülker Tarhan publicly stated that she did not want to stand as a candidate, but received nominations from CHP MPs opposed to İhsanoğlu
21 Members of Parliament from the CHP, including former leader Deniz Baykal as well as potential presidential candidate Emine Ülker Tarhan, boycotted the nomination process.
Candidate selection Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Turkish and international media speculated that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would almost certainly be the AKP's candidate for the presidency. This was proven correct on 1 July when Erdoğan's candidacy was announced. Abdullah Gül, the outgoing president of Turkey elected in 2007 caused media speculation regarding a potential candidacy in January 2014. He announced that he would not stand on 29 June 2014. A full list of possible AK Party candidates which at one point showed intentions of running for election is as follows.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leader of the AKP (2001–2014) and Prime Minister of Turkey (2003–2014). Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister of Turkey (2002–2003), President of Turkey (2007–2014). Bülent Arınç, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey (2009–2015) and Speaker of Parliament (2002–2007), endorsed Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Republican People's Party (CHP) The two main opposition parties, the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) had both expressed interest in fielding a joint candidate after the March 2014 local elections. In an unofficial vote of CHP MPs, Eskişehir mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen was seen as a potential forerunner. A list of potential candidates which had expressed interest in running, or had been recommended as a candidate of the CHP or its parliamentary sister party DSP (Democratic Left Party) is as follows.
Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, former secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, recommended by Kemal Derviş Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the CHP since 2010, challenged by AK Party MP Egemen Bağış Yılmaz Büyükerşen, CHP mayor of Eskişehir, first recommended by Democrat Party president Hüsamettin Cindoruk Kamer Genç, CHP Member of Parliament for Tunceli Kemal Derviş, former economy minister and United Nations Development Program Administrator İlker Başbuğ, former Chief of the General Staff of Turkey, released from prison in March 2014 Hikmet Çetin, former minister of foreign affairs, parliamentary speaker and CHP leader, recommended by Mustafa Sarıgül Ümit Nazlı Boyner, former president of Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) Mehmet Bekaroğlu, human rights activist, academic and former Welfare Party MP, recommended by CHP MP Muharrem İnce Mehmet Haberal, CHP Zonguldak MP, surgeon and founder of Başkent University Orhan Pamuk, novelist, screenwriter, academic and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature Emine Ülker Tarhan, CHP Member of Parliament for Ankara, supported against Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu by Workers' Party, Republican Women's Association and Youth Union of Turkey Adnan Menderes – grandson of former prime minister Adnan Menderes, professor at Dokuz Eylül University Deniz Baykal – former leader of the CHP Sami Selçuk – former First President of Court of Cassation Mansur Yavaş – CHP mayoral candidate for Ankara in the 2014 local elections Metin Feyzioğlu – President of the Turkish Bars Association Haşim Kılıç – President of the Constitutional Court Meral Akşener – Vice speaker of the Grand National Assembly and former Interior Minister. MHP MP from Istanbul and supported by the CHP Yaşar Kemal – writer of Kurdish origin who has long been a candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature Aysel Çelikel – former minister of justice in 2002 İlhan Kesici – former Motherland Party mayoral candidate for Istanbul and a CHP MP Yekta Güngör Özden – former president of the Constitutional Court between 1991 and 1998 İlber Ortaylı, Turkish historian Rıza Türmen, former judge of the European Court of Human Rights Abdüllatif Şener, former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey and founder of the Turkey Party
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Prior to joint attempts by the CHP and MHP to nominate a single candidate, the following list contains Nationalist Movement Party politicians who were speculated to be potential MHP presidential candidates, as well as the final agreed candidate Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu.
Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, former Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, recommended by Kemal Derviş Devlet Bahçeli, MHP leader since 1997 Oktay Vural, MHP Member of Parliament from İzmir and MHP parliamentary group leader Meral Akşener – Vice speaker of the Grand National Assembly and former Interior Minister. MHP MP from Istanbul and supported by the CHP Yıldırım Tuğrul Türkeş – eldest son of MHP founder Alparslan Türkeş and MP for Ankara Engin Alan – former general and MHP Istanbul MP charged for his role in the Sledgehammer Coup Plan Abdullah Gül – 24th Prime Minister of Turkey and 11th President of Turkey
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) nominated co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş as their presidential candidate on 30 June 2014. Figen Yüksekdağ, the HDP's other co-leader, was also seen as a potential candidate especially since the party was a strong supporter of women's and minority rights. Selahattin Demirtaş, co-leader of the HDP Figen Yüksekdağ, co-leader of the HDP
Others Osman Pamukoğlu, retired general and leader of the Rights and Equality Party (HEPAR), with a petition urging 20 MPs to back his candidacy emerging on Change.org. Masum Türker, leader and declared candidate of the Democratic Left Party (DSP)
List of parties by presidential candidates