Türkiye is due to hold parliamentary and presidential elections on May 14, 2023. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is running as the joint candidate of the ruling coalition of his Islamic Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the far right-wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). He has ruled Türkiye for 20 years, first as prime minister since 2003, then as president since 2014 after the parliamentary system was converted into a presidential system.

For the first time in twenty years, Erdoğan is at risk of losing the presidency, his AKP-Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) majority in parliament, or both. To prevent this, he has taken a number of measures to influence the elections in his favor. These include amending the electoral law in favor of the incumbent coalition, taking legal action against the opposition, predominantly the Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) or individuals, such as Istanbul's mayor Ekrim İmamoğlu. In spite of his disproportionate influence, polls suggest that Erdoğan could lose the presidency if the opposition unites behind the most promising candidate, and the election is more or less clean. If Erdoğan does not win in the first round of the presidential election outright, a runoff will be held two weeks later. 

The recent earthquake in Türkiye and Syria further complicates the election as a rising death toll puts pressure on Erdoğan. AKP officials have said this is not time to talk about elections and there must be some delay due to the state of emergency in the country.

This question will be resolved when the election results are officially announced by the Turkish Supreme Election Council following the runoff election on May 28.

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