Government & politics — Turkey
Government structure, legal system, citizenship, and international relations.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Government & politics at a glance
Government structure, legal system, citizenship, and international relations. Key figure for Turkey: Republic of Turkey
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Identity & names
- Full Country Name
Republic of Turkey
- Country Name
Turkey
- Local - Long
Turkey Cumhuriyeti
- Local - Short
Turkey
- Etymology- history of name
the name means "Land of the Turks"
- Independence
29 October 1923 (republic proclaimed, succeeding the Ottoman Empire)
- National Holiday
Republic Day, 29 October (1923)
Political system
- Government Type
presidential republic
- Constitution
- history: several previous;
- latest ratified 9 November 1982 amendments: proposed by written consent of at least one third of Grand National Assembly (GNA) of Turkey (TBMM) members; adoption of draft amendments requires two debates in plenary TBMM session and three-fifths majority vote of all GNA members; the president of the republic can request TBMM reconsideration of the amendment and, if readopted by two-thirds majority TBMM vote, the president may submit the amendment to a referendum; passage by referendum requires absolute majority vote; amended several times, last in 2017
- Legal System:
civil law system based on various European legal systems, notably the Swiss civil code
- Executive Branch:
- chief of state: President Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (chief of state since 28 August 2014; head of government since 9 July 2018); Vice President Cevdet YILMAZ (since 3 June 2023); note - the president is
- both chief of state and head of government head of government: President Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (head of government since 9 July 2018;
- chief of state since 28 August 2014) cabinet: Council o
- f Ministers appointed by the president elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 14 May 2023 with a run
- off on 28 May 2023 (next to be held in 2028) election results: 2023: Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN reelected president in second round - Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (AKP) 52.2%, Kemal KILICDAROGLU (CHP) 47.8% 2018: Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN reelected president in first round - Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (AKP) 52.6%, Muharrem INCE (CHP) 30.6%, Selahattin DEMIRTAS (HDP) 8.4%, Meral AKSENER (IYI) 7.3%, other 1.1%
- Legislative Branch:
Description
unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey or Turkey Buyuk Millet Meclisi (600 seats); members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by closed party-list proportional representation vote, with a 10% threshold required to win a seat; members serve 5-year terms)
Elections
last held on 14 May 2023 (next to be held in 2028)
Election Results
- percent of vote by party/coalition - People's Alliance 49.9% (AKP 35.6%, MHP 10.1%, YRP 2.8%, BBP 1%), Nation Alliance 35.4% (CHP 25.3%, IYI 9.7%), Labor and Freedom Alliance 10.7% (YSGP 8.9%, TIP 1.8%)
- seats by party/coalition - People's Alliance 323 (AKP 268, MHP 50, YRP 5), Nation Alliance 212 (CHP 169, IYI 43), Labor and Freedom Alliance 65 (YSGP 61, TIP 4)
- composition as of February 2024 - men 480, women 119, percentage women 19.9%
- Judicial Branch:
- highest court(s): Constitutional Court or Anayasa Mahkemesi (consists of the president, 2 vice presidents, and 12 judges); Court of Cassation (consists of about 390 judges and is organized into civil and penal chambers); Council of State (organized into 15 divisions - 14 judicial and 1 consultative - each with a division he
- ad and at least 5 members) judge selection and term of office: Constitutional Court members - 3 appointed by the Grand National Assembly and 12 by the president of the republic; court president and 2 deputy court presidents appointed from among its members for 4-year terms; judges serve 12-year, nonrenewable terms with mandatory retirement at age 65; Court of Cassation judges appointed by the Board of Judges and Prosecutors, a 13-member body of judicial officials; Court of Cassation judges serve until retirement at age 65; Council of State members appointed by the Board and by the president of the republic; members serve renewable, 4-
- year terms subordinate courts: regional appeals courts; basic (first instance) courts; peace courts; aggravated crime courts; specialized courts, including administrative and audit; note - a constitutional amendment in 2017 abolished military courts unless established to investigate military personnel actions during war conditions
- Regions or States:
81 provinces (iller, singular - ili); Adana, Adiyaman, Afyonkarahisar, Agri, Aksaray, Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Ardahan, Artvin, Aydin, Balikesir, Bartin, Batman, Bayburt, Bilecik, Bingol, Bitlis, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Canakkale, Cankiri, Corum, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Duzce, Edirne, Elazig, Erzincan, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Giresun, Gumushane, Hakkari, Hatay, Igdir, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir (Smyrna), Kahramanmaras, Karabuk, Karaman, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kilis, Kirikkale, Kirklareli, Kirsehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kutahya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Mugla, Mus, Nevsehir, Nigde, Ordu, Osmaniye, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanliurfa, Siirt, Sinop, Sirnak, Sivas, Tekirdag, Tokat, Trabzon (Trebizond), Tunceli, Usak, Van, Yalova, Yozgat, Zonguldak
- Political Parties and Leaders:
- Democracy and Progress Party or DEVA [Ali BABACAN]
- Democrat Party or DP [Gultekin UYSAL]
- Democratic Regions Party or DBP [Saliha AYDENIZ, Keskin BAYINDIR]
- Felicity Party (Saadet Party) or SP [Temel KARAMOLLAOGLU]
- Free Cause Party or HUDA PAR [Zekeriya YAPICIOGLU]
- Future Party (Gelecek Partisi) or GP [Ahmet DAVUTOGLU]
- Good Party or IYI [Meral AKSENER]
- Grand Unity Party or BBP [Mustafa DESTICI]
- Justice and Development Party or AKP [Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN]
- Labor and Freedom Alliance (electoral alliance includes YSGP, HDP, TIP)
- Nation Alliance [collective leadership] (electoral alliance includes CHP, DEVA, DP, GP, IYI, SP) (dissolved 1 June 2023)
- Nationalist Movement Party or MHP [Devlet BAHCELI]
- New Welfare Party or YRP [Fatih ERBAKAN]
- Party of Greens and the Left Future or YSGP [Cigfrm Kilicgun UCAR and Ibrahim AKIN]
- People's Alliance (electoral alliance includes AKP, BBP, MHP, YRP)
- Peoples' Democratic Party or HDP [Pervin BULDAN, Mithat SANCAR]
- Republican People's Party or CHP [Kemal KILICDAROGLU]
- Workers' Party of Turkey or TIP [Erkan BAS]
- Note: as of September 2021, 116 political parties were legally registered
- Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
- Citizenship Criteria:
- no citizenship by descent only: at least one p
- arent must be a citizen of Turkey dual citizenship recognized: yes, but requires prior permission
- from the government residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
Capital & time
- Capital Name
Ankara
- Capital - geographic coordinate
39 56 N, 32 52 E
- Capital Time Difference
UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
- Daylight Savings Time
+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
International role
- International Organization Participation:
ADB (nonregional member), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CERN (observer), CICA, CPLP (associate observer), D-8, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, EU (candidate country), FAO, FATF, G-20, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club (associate), PCA, PIF (partner), SCO (dialogue member), SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC note: Turkey is an EU candidate country whose satisfactory completion of accession criteria is required before being granted full EU membership
- International Law Organization Participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
- Diplomatic Representation from US:
chief of mission
Ambassador Jeffry Lane FLAKE (since 26 January 2022) embassy: 1480 Sokak No. 1, Cukurambar Mahallesi, 06530 Cankaya, Ankara mailing address: 7000 Ankara Place, Washington DC 20512-7000
telephone
[90] (312) 294-0000
FAX
[90] (312) 467-0019
Email address and website
- Ankara-ACS@state.gov
- https://tr.usembassy.gov/
consulate(s) general
Istanbul consulate(s): Adana
- Diplomatic Representation in the US:
chief of mission
Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Halime Digdem BUNER (since 13 January 2024)
chancery
2525 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone
[1] (202) 612-6700
FAX
[1] (202) 612-6744
Email address and website
- embassy.washingtondc@mfa.gov.tr
consulate(s) general
Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York