Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said there is no legal obstacle to President Erdogan running in Turkey’s upcoming elections. Opposition groups claim Erdogan cannot run for a third time because the constitution limits presidential terms to two terms.
“Our president’s candidacy is his constitutional right. There are no legal obstacles as our president was elected in 2018 as the first president of the presidential system of government and the election that is coming up now is the second election,” Bozdag said.
Article 101 of the Turkish Constitution states, “The term of the president of the republic is five years. A person may be elected president of the republic for a maximum of two terms”
On Wednesday, Erkan Bas, the leader of Turkey’s Workers’ Party, raised the issue, saying Erdogan could not run for president a third time.
Bozdag said Article 101 came into force in 2018 and does not prevent Erdogan’s candidacy.
“According to the constitution, Article 101 was applied for the first time in 2018. The second application will be in 2023,” he said.
Erdogan had signaled Wednesday that Turkey would hold elections on May 14, a month earlier than he had previously announced.
Last year, Erdogan had repeated that the vote would be held in June, but earlier this month he said the date could be brought forward from the planned June 18.
Souırce: Gerçek News
