Türkiye marked on Monday 12 years since Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as Türkiye’s first president elected directly by popular vote, a period that has seen the country overhaul its system of government and expand its diplomatic and defense footprint.
Erdoğan was elected Türkiye’s 12th president on Aug. 10, 2014, following a 2007 constitutional amendment that allowed the president to be chosen directly by voters for the first time in the country’s history.
He won 51.79% of the vote, receiving more than 21 million of about 40.5 million valid ballots.
Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran on Monday described the 2014 election as a major turning point in Turkish democratic history, saying the direct election of the president strengthened the role of the popular will in governing the country.
Duran said Erdoğan’s election marked the beginning of a new period in which Türkiye increasingly determined its own priorities and shaped its future through the will of its people.
