Turkey: National Assembly, 24 June 2018

At stake in this election:      

• The 550 seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Binali YILDIRIM*
• Assembly: Turkey has a unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi) with 600 seats**

*YILDIRIM will be stepping down as Prime Minister following the election. The office was abolished in a 2017 referendum that extended presidential powers widely.

**The referendum also increased the number of seats in the Assembly from 550 to 600, lowered the minimum age for deputies to 18, and increased terms from 4 to 5 years. Candidates must be members of the Grand National Assembly, supported by 20 of its members, or nominees by political parties that have attained more than 10 percent of votes in the last legislative election.  

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
• In the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi) 600 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.**

**There are 79 MMD corresponding to the provinces. Each party must clear a national threshold of 10 percent and at least one D'Hondt quotient in the district from which it is elected. Additionally, a candidate may be seated only if his party is organized in one-third of districts within each of half of the provinces, and has nominated two candidates for each seat in at least half of provinces.

Election Note: 

• In the 2017 referendum, ERDOGAN succeeded in his attempts to expand the power of the presidency beyond its more ceremonial former role. The referendum abolished the offices of Prime Minister and Council of Minsters, established the President as the head of the executive branch, and created the position of vice president. Deputies in the Grand National Assembly now serve 5-year terms and the age requirement is 18.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Justice and Development Party / Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP)
  • Leader: Ahmet DAVUTOGLU
  • Seats won in last election: 317 (Currently have 316 seats)
• Party: Republican People's Party / Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (CHP)
  • Leader: Kemal KILICDAROGLU
  • Seats won in last election: 134 (Currently have 131 seats)
• Party: Nationalist Movement Party / Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi (MHP)
  • Leader: Devlet BAHCELI
  • Seats won in last election: 40 (Currently have 35 seats)
• Party: Peoples' Democratic Party / Halkların Demokratik Partisi (HDP)
  • Leader: Selahattin DEMIRTAS
  • Seats won in last election: 59 (Currently have 47 seats)
• Party: Good Party / iYi Parti (IYI)
  • Leader: Meral Akşener
  • Seats won in last election: 0 (Currently have 6 seats)
• Party: Independent
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last election: 0 (Currently have 2 seats)

Last Election:

• The last election for the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was held on 1 November 2015.  There were 56,949,009 registered voters for the election, of whom 48,537,695 cast votes, an 85.3% voter turnout. The Justice and Development Party won 317 of 550 seats (49.5% of the vote), the Republican People’s Party won 134 seats (25.3%), the Nationalist Movement Party won 40 seats (11.9%), and People’s Democratic Party won 59 seats (10.8%).

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 80,810,525 (2017 est.)
• Registered Voters: 56,949,009 (2015)

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 40,275,390 (2017 est.)
• Is Turkey a signatory to CEDAW: No
• Has Turkey ratified CEDAW: Yes (20 December 1985)
• Gender Quota: No legislated quotas
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators: 78 (14%) of 550 seats in the Grand National Assembly
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 69
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low

Disability Data:

• Is Turkey a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)
• Has Turkey ratified CRPD: Yes (28 September 2009)
• Population with a disability: 11,912,140 (2015 est.)