The Electoral cycle of Turkey is composed of three different types of elections, namely general elections every four years, local elections every five years and presidential elections every five years. Occasionally, referendums may be held if at least 330 Members of Parliament in the Grand National Assembly vote in favour of a constitutional amendment. Elections are overseen by the Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey.
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Elections
A summary of the purpose of each type of election is as follows.
Historical changes
The 2007 constitutional referendum brought about significant changes to the Turkish electoral system, lowering the parliamentary terms from five years to four. As a result, general elections are now held every four years rather than five. Furthermore, the constitutional changes adopted in the referendum made the President elected by direct ballot rather than indirectly within parliament as had previously been the case. Before 2014, presidential elections were held every seven years by MPs, but are now held directly every five years. The incumbent may seek re-election once for a maximum of two terms, whereas the term limit for previous presidents elected indirectly were capped at one term.