Turkish President Erdogan says March elections will be his last

The 70-year-old leader expressed confidence that his party would remain in power

Istanbul:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that the country’s March local elections will be his last, marking the end of more than two decades in power.

This is the first time Erdogan has talked about leaving office since taking power in 2003.

“I worked non-stop. We were running around breathless because for me, it was a final,” the president said during a meeting of the TUGVA Young Turks Foundation.

“With the power vested in me by the law, this election is my last.”

The 70-year-old leader expressed confidence that his conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) would remain in power even after he leaves office.

He said the local election results on March 31 would “be a blessing to my brothers who come after me. It will be a transfer of confidence”.

The Justice and Development Party hopes to regain the mayoralty of Istanbul in elections later this month, after losing it to the opposition in 2019.

Erdogan himself served as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998.

In 2003, he was elected prime minister, who was the dominant figure in Turkish politics at the time.

Things changed when Erdogan was elected president in 2014 after three terms as prime minister.

Constitutional changes in 2017 transformed Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system, abolishing the position of prime minister and ensuring Erdogan’s grip on power remains intact.

Further electoral successes in 2018 and last year mean Erdogan’s controversial rule has entered its third decade.

Internet users were quick to express disdain for Erdogan’s claims that his political hegemony was coming to an end.

“Don’t believe it,” human rights activist Ercan Ozcan wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“We know he’s trying to change the constitution to ensure he’s re-elected again and again.”

Since coming to power in 2002 under his Justice and Development Party, Erdogan has earned a reputation as an unparalleled leader.

However, his appeal has waned in recent years.

In 2019, he lost as a candidate for the mayoralty in Istanbul, the country’s economic hub, and Ankara, the capital.

He reached the second round of the presidential election last May for the first time.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)