Senior party official publicly confirms early election push, requiring 360 parliamentary votes to clear the path for a third presidential term
What has long been whispered in the corridors of Turkey's capital is now being said out loud. A senior official from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has publicly confirmed what political insiders have been discussing for months: the party wants parliament to call early elections so that Erdoğan can run for another presidential term.
According to the YetkinReport, Ahmet Büyükgümüş, the AKP deputy chairman responsible for party organization, told Kanal 7 television this week that Erdoğan must "run again and win" to continue serving the nation, and that to do so, the Grand National Assembly must pass an early election resolution by the constitutionally required threshold of 360 votes. "As the People's Alliance, we are working to produce this political outcome in parliament," Büyükgümüş said.
The statement marks a significant shift from behind-the-scenes maneuvering to open political campaigning. Earlier this month, AKP Deputy Chairman Mustafa Elitaş had floated November 2027 as the preferred date for early elections — roughly six months ahead of the regularly scheduled May 2028 vote.
The Numbers Game
Calling an early election under Turkey's constitution requires a supermajority of 360 votes in the 600-seat parliament. The People's Alliance currently falls well short of that mark. The AKP holds 275 seats, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) 47, with allied parties HÜDAPAR and DSP adding four and one seat respectively — bringing the coalition to 337. Even if all eight independent members of parliament voted with the alliance, the bloc would still need 15 more votes to reach the threshold.
According to YetkinReport, the AKP's most immediate recruitment ground is likely to be dissident former members who left to join the Future Party (Gelecek) under former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu or the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA). A precedent has already been set: İsa Mesih Şahin, a founding member of the Future Party who was elected to parliament on a CHP ticket in 2023, rejoined the AKP in early 2026. Another returnee, Serap Yazıcı Özbudun, was rewarded with the chairmanship of parliament's Constitutional Commission following her switch.
The DEM Factor — and Öcalan's Shadow
A more straightforward path to 360 exists if the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, which holds 56 seats, backs an early election motion. Kurdish political leader Abdullah Öcalan, currently imprisoned on İmralı Island, has previously called on DEM to support Erdoğan's candidacy as part of the ongoing peace process. However, researcher Roj Girasun, speaking to T24, cautions that while the process has softened anti-Erdoğan sentiment among Kurdish voters, Kurdish political circles still want to see Selahattin Demirtaş as their candidate in the next election.
Why 2027, Not 2026?
The choice of late 2027 rather than 2026 is also telling. Opposition CHP leader Özgür Özel had previously stated that he would support an early election if held in November 2025 or even 2026. Büyükgümüş's explanation: the 2023 election delivered two clear mandates from voters — fix earthquake damage and fix the economy. The AKP believes it has addressed the first and expects to resolve the second by 2026-2027. AKP strategists are reportedly confident that by late 2027, CHP will have little political cover to refuse supporting an early election call.
What remains uncertain is whether economic improvements will materialize on the government's preferred timeline — and whether the coalition arithmetic can be assembled through persuasion, patronage, or political deal-making in time for a November 2027 vote.
Artwork:Manus