At Stake in this Election: 

• All 600 seats of the Turkish Grand National Assembly 

Government Structure:  

• Chief of State: President Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN (since 28 August 2014) 

• Head of Government: President Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN (since 9 July 2019) 

• The President became head of government when the prime minister position was eliminated in 2018 after a constitutional referendum. 

• Assembly: unicameral Grand National Assembly (Büyük Millet Meclisi) with 600 seats 

Electoral System:  

• The President is directly elected by absolute majority vote in up to two rounds. The President may serve up to two 5-year terms. 

• All 600 members of the Grand National Assembly are directly elected via party-list proportional representation vote in multi-seat constituencies. Members serve 5-year terms. 

Last Election: 

In 2018, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) narrowly failed to win a majority in the Grand National Assembly with 295 seats. The remaining seats were split between four parties: the CHP (146 seats), the HDP (67), the MHP (49), and the Good Party (43). Voter turnout was 85%.  

New/Unique in this Election:  

In 2022, the Grand National Assembly passed Law No. 7393, lowering the minimum vote threshold needed for parties to gain an assembly seat from 10% to 7%. The law also changed the seat allocation procedure from a nested, two-round procedure for coalitions to a one-round procedure for coalitions, parties, and independents. Furthermore, the law introduced a lottery system for appointing judges to local electoral boards, whereas the judges were previously appointed based on seniority. 

Key Deadlines: 

• Candidate filing deadline: 9 April 2023 

• Voter registration deadline: 2 April 2023 

• Turkey uses a passive, residence-based voter registration process that occurs continuously. From 20 March to 2 April, voters were allowed to review voter rolls and request changes to their registration status. 

Main Parties in this Election: 

• Justice and Development Party / Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) 

• Leader: Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN 

• Seats won in last election: 295 out of 600 

• Member of The People’s Alliance (Cumhur İttifakı) coalition 

• Republican People’s Party / Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (CHP) 

• Leader: Kemal KILIÇDAROĞLU 

• Seats won in last election: 146 out of 600 

• Member of the National Alliance (Millet İttifakı) coalition 

• People’s Democratic Party / Halkın Kurtuluş Partisi (HDP) 

• Leader: Nurullah ANKUT 

• Seats won in last election: 67 out of 600 

• Member of the Labor and Freedom Alliance (Emek ve Özgürlük İttifakı) coalition 

• Nationalist Movement Party / Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi (MHP) 

• Leader: Devlet BAHÇELI 

• Seats won in last election: 49 out of 600 

• Member of The People’s Alliance (Cumhur İttifakı) coalition 

• Good Party / İyi Parti (İYİ) 

• Leader: Meral AKŞENER 

• Seats won in last election: 43 out of 600 

• Member of the National Alliance (Millet İttifakı) coalition 

Population and Registered Voters: 

• Population: 85,816,199 (2023 est.) 

• Registered Voters: 64,913,141 (2023) 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 42,694,626 (2023 est.) 

• CEDAW Status: Ratified (by accession) 20 December 1985  

• Gender Quota: No  

• Female Candidates in this election: Yes 

• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 101 out of 580 (17.4%) in the Grand National Assembly 

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.838, Very High, Rank 48 (2021) 

• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: 24.7 (2023) 

Disability Data: 

• CRPD Status: Signed 30 March 2007, Ratified 28 September 2009 

• Projected population with a disability: 6,007,134 (2023 est.) 

IFES Resources: 

• Does IFES have a presence in Turkey: No  

• Election Access: Yes 

• Election Judgements: Yes; 5 judgments and 32 resources