How Many Presidents Has Turkey Had?

Turkey has had 12 presidents since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded the republic in 1923. But the simple number hides a transformation: for most of the republic's history the presidency was a largely ceremonial post, with real power held by the prime minister. That ended with the 2017 referendum, which abolished the prime minister's office and turned the presidency — now held by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the 12th president — into an all-powerful executive.

12presidents since the republic was founded in 1923

Correct as of June 2026.

The same title, two different jobs

The presidency changed shape over a century. Pick a rule and watch the number move.

12Presidents since 1923

Twelve people have served as president since Atatürk took the office in 1923. Erdoğan is the 12th — and, so far, the longest-serving since Atatürk himself.

Why 12 presidents barely tells the story

The headline is simple — 12 presidents since 1923 — but it flattens two very different offices into one word. For most of the republic's life, the president was a unifying figurehead who stood above day-to-day politics, while the prime minister actually governed. Many presidents were required to cut all ties with their political party on taking office, precisely to keep the role impartial.

That makes the count misleading on its own. The same title, "President of Turkey," meant something close to ceremonial for Sezer in 2005 and something close to total for Erdoğan after 2018. Counting the heads is easy; the harder, more interesting question is how much the office in their hands was actually worth.

The 2017 referendum that rewrote the office

The turning point came in April 2017. A national referendum approved a package of constitutional amendments that abolished the office of prime minister entirely and transferred its powers to the president. From the 2018 election onward, Turkey switched from a parliamentary system to an executive presidential one: the president now appoints ministers, issues decrees with the force of law, and names most of the top judges.

This is why the page counts presidents rather than prime ministers — the prime minister's office no longer exists. Erdoğan, who had already served as prime minister from 2003 to 2014, became the first holder of the redesigned super-presidency, an office far more powerful than the one Atatürk or any of his successors held.

The full list, in order

All 12 from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The titles stayed the same, but the office did not — watch where the military-backed names cluster, and where the ceremonial era gives way to today's executive presidency.

Every president, in order

All 12 since 1923. Tap a name for the detail; filter to see the founders, the generals, the centre-right and the AKP era.

Showing 12 holders

The long shadow of the military

Read the list and the army keeps reappearing. Celal Bayar, the third president, was deposed by the 1960 coup. The fourth, Cemal Gürsel, was the general who led it. The seventh, Kenan Evren, led the 1980 coup and then governed as president, overseeing the 1982 constitution that still underpins the state.

Even civilian presidents carried the military's mark: Süleyman Demirel had twice been removed from the prime ministership by the armed forces before reaching the presidency. Turkey's century of presidents is, in large part, a story of a republic repeatedly interrupted by its own army — and, since 2018, reshaped around a single, far stronger executive office.

How much power is in the job?

No office on this map changed more than Turkey's presidency: a ceremonial role for most of a century, then, after 2018, one of the most powerful single executives in any large democracy.

How much power does the president actually have?

The title is the easy part. The real measure is how hard the holder is to remove.

Head of state too?

Yes — and now head of government as well. Since 2018 the president is both, after the prime minister's office was abolished.

How they get the job

Directly elected by the people since 2014, for a five-year term, in a two-round system if no one wins a majority outright.

Length of term

Five years, with a two-term limit — though a clause allowing a third term under certain conditions has been a live political question.

Can be sacked mid-term?

Very hard. With no prime minister to absorb blame, removing the president effectively requires parliament to trigger simultaneous elections — dissolving itself in the process.

Control of courts and decrees

Extensive since 2018. The president issues decrees with the force of law and appoints most senior judges, leaving the office with unusually few checks.

Before 2018 the Turkish president was often a referee standing above politics. Since the referendum the office is among the most powerful single executives in any large democracy — head of state, head of government, and the appointer of much of the judiciary, all in one elected figure.

In office now: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (AKP)

President since 28 August 2014 and re-elected in 2023; the architect of the 2018 executive presidency and, after Atatürk, the office's longest-serving holder.

Office-holder correct as of June 2026.

See how this compares

Turkey turned a ceremonial presidency into an all-powerful executive in a single referendum — the mirror image of a Westminster system. Compare how much power each office really holds on the map.

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A quick quiz. The counting questions catch most people.

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What did the 2017 referendum change?

Sources

Wikipedia — List of presidents of Turkey and President of Turkey (12 presidents; Erdoğan the 12th, in office since 28 August 2014)
Wikipedia / Britannica — the 2017 constitutional referendum abolishing the prime minister's office, effective 2018
Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Foreign Affairs — list of Turkish presidents
Britannica — Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; the move to an executive presidency
Natural Earth public-domain country data (via world-atlas), used on the Leaders of the World map

Twelve presidents, one title, and two completely different jobs hiding inside it — in Turkey the real question was never how many, but how much power the latest holder managed to gather into the office.