section_path: Government and politics/Parties and elections
section_name: Parties and elections
paragraph_text: Parties and elections
  
  Elections in Turkey are held for six functions of government: presidential elections (national), parliamentary elections (national), municipality mayors (local), district mayors (local), provincial or municipal council members (local) and muhtars (local). Apart from elections, referendums are also held occasionally. Every Turkish citizen who has turned 18 has the right to vote and stand as a candidate at elections. Universal suffrage for both sexes has been applied throughout Turkey since 1934. In Turkey, turnout rates of both local and general elections are high compared to many other countries, which usually stands higher than 80%.
  
  The Constitutional Court can strip the public financing of political parties that it deems anti-secular or having ties to terrorism, or ban their existence altogether. The electoral threshold for political parties at national level is seven percent of the votes. Smaller parties can avoid the electoral threshold by forming an alliance with other parties. Independent candidates are not subject to an electoral threshold.
  
  On the right side of the Turkish political spectrum, parties like the Democrat Party, Justice Party, Motherland Party, and Justice and Development Party became the most popular political parties in Turkey, winning numerous elections. Turkish right-wing parties are more likely to embrace the principles of political ideologies such as conservatism, nationalism or Islamism. On the left side of the spectrum, parties like the Republican People's Party, Social Democratic Populist Party and Democratic Left Party once enjoyed the largest electoral success. Left-wing parties are more likely to embrace the principles of socialism, Kemalism or secularism.
  
  President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, winner of the 2023 presidential election, is currently serving as the head of state and head of government. Özgür Özel is the Main Opposition Leader. Numan Kurtulmuş is the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly. The 2023 parliamentary election resulted in the 28th Parliament of Turkey, which had an initial composition of 268 seats for the Justice and Development Party, 169 seats for the Republican People's Party, 61 seats for the Party of Greens and the Left Future, 50 seats for the Nationalist Movement Party, 43 seats for the Good Party, 5 seats for the New Welfare Party and 4 seats for the Workers' Party of Turkey. The next parliamentary election is scheduled to take place in 2028.