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Erdoğan puts new constitution at centre of Turkey’s parliamentary agenda
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has put the drafting of a new constitution at the centre of the new parliamentary term, calling for the coming year to become a “year of the Constitution” as political debate intensifies over Turkey’s 2028 presidential election and the possibility of another candidacy.
Speaking on 1 October at the opening of the fifth legislative year of the 28th parliamentary term, Erdoğan called for a “democratic, participatory, libertarian and civilian Constitution”, arguing that Turkey’s current institutional framework still bears the imprint of the 1980 military coup despite successive amendments.
He linked constitutional reform to what he described as the need to overcome political polarisation, strengthen the “domestic front” and build what he called a “Great Turkey Consensus”. He also referred to the government’s “Terror-Free Turkey” process, the economy, reconstruction in earthquake-hit areas, the defence industry and regional security.
Erdoğan did not present a draft constitution, specific articles or a timetable for constitutional reform. Nor did he explicitly link the initiative to his own political future or the 2028 presidential election.
Instead, he pointed to a recent parliamentary vote as evidence that broader political agreements are possible. He cited the 467 votes behind a legislative initiative connected to the “Terror-Free Turkey” process, arguing that the Grand National Assembly can produce majorities that cross established party lines.
That majority, however, does not automatically translate into support for constitutional change or a decision to renew presidential elections.
The 2028 question
The constitutional debate is unfolding alongside questions about whether Erdoğan can seek another presidential term in 2028.
Article 101 of Turkey’s Constitution says that a person can be elected president no more than twice. Article 116, however, provides that if parliament decides to renew elections during the president’s second term, the incumbent can stand for election once more.
Such a decision requires three-fifths of all MPs, or 360 votes.
The current parliamentary arithmetic falls short of that threshold. Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) holds 280 seats, while its nationalist ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has 46. Together they have 326 MPs.
Adding the four MPs from HÜDA PAR and three from the New Welfare Party would bring the total to 333 – still 27 votes short of the 360 needed under Article 116.
That means any decision to renew the elections under the existing constitutional provision would require support beyond the governing bloc and its smaller allies.
The opposition has also undergone political realignments. Özgür Özel’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) holds 91 seats and is the second-largest force in parliament. At the opening of the new legislative year, Özel and his parliamentary group left the chamber before Erdoğan’s speech, signalling their opposition to the president.
That does not determine how the CHP or other opposition parties would vote on a future constitutional amendment or an Article 116 motion. But it underlines the political difficulty of assuming that the consensus Erdoğan highlighted around one legislative process would extend to the institutional rules governing presidential power.
Two different routes
The question of Erdoğan’s possible candidacy is also complicated by an existing legal debate over how his presidential terms should be counted.
The government’s interpretation treats his election in 2018 as the beginning of his first term under the current presidential system and his re-election in 2023 as his second. Some constitutional scholars argue that his 2014 election should also count.
The disagreement stems from the 2017 constitutional changes that transformed Turkey’s political system and remains part of the discussion over any future candidacy.
Presidential adviser Mehmet Uçum said on 17 September that he considered an election on 16 April 2028 possible following a parliamentary decision to renew the elections, which would allow Erdoğan to run again. His remarks were a political proposal rather than a decision already taken by parliament.
The debate therefore involves two separate institutional routes. One is the existing Article 116 mechanism, which would require 360 parliamentary votes to renew the elections during Erdoğan’s second term. The other is the much broader process of drafting and adopting a new constitution.
Erdoğan did not say that a new constitution was necessary to enable him to seek another term. Nor does the existing Article 116 mechanism depend on the adoption of a new constitution.
A broader political agenda
Erdoğan presented constitutional reform as part of a wider effort to change the way political parties deal with disagreements.
He argued that political competition should continue but that parties should also find common ground on issues he considers to concern Turkey’s national interests. He described this approach as “competition within consensus” and linked it to his call for a “Great Turkey Consensus”.
The president also addressed economic issues during his speech, saying Turkey’s economy grew by 2.5% in the first half of 2026 and that annualised national income had exceeded $1.7 trillion. He said annual exports reached $280.3 billion in August, while tourism revenue stood at $25.7 billion in the first six months of the year and defence and aerospace exports reached $6.3 billion in the first eight months.
He also said the government expected the current-account deficit to remain at 2.6% of GDP this year and was targeting a budget deficit of 3.1%.
But the constitutional question was the central political message of the parliamentary opening.
The significance of Erdoğan’s initiative will depend on whether the government can turn its call for consensus into an actual parliamentary majority. The previous 467-vote agreement demonstrates that cross-party majorities are possible, but it does not establish that the same coalition can be built around constitutional reform or the renewal of presidential elections.
Sources: EUalive’s partners IBNA and Bosphorus News
Caption: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addresses the Grand National Assembly of Turkey during the opening of the new legislative session in Ankara. [Presidency of the Republic of Turkey official Facebook page]
