Abdulhamit Gül says the Constitution allows President Erdoğan to run again

AK Party Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Group Abdulhamit Gül said at the Türkiye Century Meetings program in Sakarya that there is no constitutional obstacle to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan running again. Gül’s statement concerned Article 101 of the Constitution.

Scraper SystemSeptember 15, 2026, 06:52 PM

Abdulhamit Gül says the Constitution allows President Erdoğan to run again

AK Party Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Group Abdulhamit Gül addressed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s potential bid for re-election at the Türkiye Century Meetings program held in Sakarya. Gül said there was no constitutional obstacle to Erdoğan continuing to serve as president.

Gül presented his assessment alongside a legal interpretation of Erdoğan’s potential re-election, as well as references to the popular will and political consensus. The statement set out the governing party’s position in the debate over whether Erdoğan could run in a possible next presidential election.

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The legal framework of the debate

Article 101 of the Constitution contains the basic provisions concerning the president’s term of office and re-election. Under the current provision, a person may be elected president no more than twice. However, the article also provides for the possibility of running once more if the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye decides during the president’s second term to renew the elections.

How this provision would apply to Erdoğan has previously been debated in connection with the effect of the 2017 constitutional amendment on the calculation of presidential terms. The amendment adopted on April 16, 2017, introduced the presidential government system, and a new constitutional period began in 2018 with the new system in terms of presidential elections and terms of office.

The debate before the 2023 elections

Before Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ran for re-election in the 2023 elections, differing legal views also emerged over Article 101 of the Constitution and the term limit. Some legal experts argued that the article had been comprehensively rewritten in 2017 and that the calculation of terms should begin in 2018; however, this position did not emerge as a binding legal interpretation agreed upon by all sides.

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Gül’s latest statement amounts to a renewed political expression of the view that the post-2017 period should be taken as the basis. It does not constitute a direct declaration of candidacy, a finalized election timetable or a decision by the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye to renew the elections. The final framework for Erdoğan’s potential re-election will take shape alongside the interpretation of the relevant constitutional provisions and any possible decisions to renew the elections.

Abdulhamit Gül says the Constitution allows President Erdoğan to run again