Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hinted that he may step down after 20 years in power, reports AFP.
Speaking to young people in Istanbul, where local elections will be held at the end of the month, the president said that this vote, which will take place on March 31, will be his last.
“I continue to work tirelessly. We run without rest, because for me this is a final. With the power that the law gives me, this election is the last for me”said Erdogan, who has been in power in Turkey, first as prime minister and then as president since 2003.
“But what will result will be a blessing to my brothers who will come after me. There will be a transfer of trust.”he added during the event of the Turkish Youth Foundation, reported AFP.
Erdogan was re-elected for a new presidential term in May. He turned 70 on February 26.
Thanks to a change in the constitution, Edrogan, who is a supporter of family and conservative values, was first elected head of state in 2014 and has since been re-elected twice. But last May, he had to go through a runoff, which is the first time this has happened.
His remarks yesterday sparked some sarcastic reactions on the X network from users who recalled the many times Edrogan spoke of his “last election” such as 2009, 2012 or 2022.
“Don’t fall for it!”warns human rights activist Erkan Özcan, who sees in Erdoğan’s statements the appeal: “Please vote for me as the last”.
“We know very well that he is trying to change the constitution to make sure he gets re-elected again and again.”adds the activist.
Often portrayed as a sultan who cannot be dethroned, residing in a palace of more than 1,100 rooms built for him on a wooded hill in Ankara, Erdogan has won every election since his Islamic-conservative Justice and Development Party came to power in 2002 until in 2015 the opposition deprived him of his absolute parliamentary majority and until in 2019 he dealt a blow, winning the mayoralties of Istanbul and Ankara.
A key challenge in the March 31 election for Erdogan’s party is to reclaim Istanbul, where he was mayor in the 1990s. For this purpose, the party announced as a candidate for mayor the former Minister of the Environment Murat Kurum, who will fight against the current mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, elected in 2019.
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