A Turkish newspaper comments on Erdogan's statement about the final stage of his political career

Today, Sunday, Hürriyet newspaper commented on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement that the upcoming municipal elections will be the last in his political career.

She stated that this may serve as a social experiment for the ruling party and a reminder of the necessity of making amendments to the constitution.

Erdogan announced on Friday that the upcoming municipal elections will be the last in his political career. The newspaper recalled that in 2017, Turkey became a presidential republic after a referendum.

According to the current Turkish constitution, the head of state may not hold office for more than two consecutive terms. In May 2023, Erdogan was re-elected for a second five-year term. In the recent election campaign, the opposition parties insisted that the talk was about a third term, because Erdogan was head of state from 2014 to 2018, but under a parliamentary republic.

It is noteworthy that the Turkish leader himself raised the issue of the need for a new constitution for Turkey many times.

According to the author of the article in the aforementioned newspaper, Ahmet Hakan, who is close to government circles, “Erdogan may have wanted to obtain more votes for his party in the local elections by appealing to voters with an overly emotional message.”

The journalist noted that perhaps Recep Tayyip Erdogan “wanted to conduct a social experiment within the party” to find out “how the party will behave, who will react, and in what way.”

According to Hakan, Erdogan also wanted to remind that "under the constitution, he cannot run again." “Maybe he just wanted a reminder of the necessity of constitutional amendment,” the article said.