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.

With 2017 referendum, Turkey adopted semi-presidential republic system. Parliamentary terms reverted into five years, prime ministry dissolved and MP numbers increased.