Ozan Kosse / AFP
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint press conference with Ukrainian President at Dolmabahçe Presidential Office on March 8, 2024 in Istanbul.
International – After more than twenty years at the head of the country, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke for the first time of his departure from power this Friday, March 8. During a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, the Turkish leader said: “I continue to work non-stop. We run out of breath because for me it is final. With the power vested in me by law, this election is my last election..
Recep Tayyip Erdogan was Prime Minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014, before becoming President for the past 10 years. He clarified that about leaving power “What results will be blessed for my brothers who come after me. There will be a transfer of trust.” A statement that comes in front of a gathering of the Turkish Youth Foundation (TÜGVA) 22 days before the election.
A key issue for the ruling AKP party is recapturing the country’s main city and economic capital, Istanbul, which fell to the opposition in 2019 and of which Erdogan himself was mayor in the 1990s. To depose the current mayor, the Akram Justice and Development Party (AKP, Islamo-conservative) Imamoglu appointed former environment minister Murat Kurum.
Erdogan, 70 since February 26, was re-elected as head of state for a five-year term in a second round of voting last May. For the first time since he was elected by universal suffrage as President of the Republic in 2014. He was re-elected as head of state twice, in 2018 and 2023, after the amendment of the constitution and the establishment of President’s rule.
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