List of Presidents of Turkey (1923-2023)

The Turkey earthquake has shrouded the nation in rubble and debris with a few survivors and thousands waiting to be rescued.
While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday conceded "shortcomings' post the criticism of his government's response to the enormous earthquake that has obliterated over 15,000 people in Turkey and Syria.
This sprawling scale of the disaster has led to a number of relief operations in the freezing cold weather of the country.
The survivors are desperately looking for food and shelter in these heinous weather conditions among which many went silent under the debris while crying out for help.
As criticism mounted online against the response of the authorities of Turkey to one of the deadliest earthquakes of the century with a magnitude of 7.8, Erdogan the president of Turkey visited one of the hardest-hit spots, the epicenter Kahramanmaras, and acknowledged problems in the response.
"Of course, there are shortcomings. The conditions are clear to see. It's not possible to be ready for a disaster like this," he said.
Twitter was also not working on Turkish mobile networks, according to reports and the NetBlocks web monitoring group
President Erdoğan in quake-hit Hatay https://t.co/0cWFAf5dkV pic.twitter.com/Rg03gqkfdy
— Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye (@trpresidency) February 9, 2023
The president of Turkey is the highest authority in the Republic of Turkey.
They serve as the nation's head of state and head of government and so far there have been twelve heads of state since 1923, the inception of the republican period following the Turkish War of Independence.
Find out about all the presidents of Turkey through this list including the term in office, party, lifespan, and more.
List of presidents of Turkey(1923-2023)
No. |
Name(Lifespan) |
Term of office & mandateDuration in years and days |
Party |
||
1 |
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938) |
29 October 1923 |
10 November 1938 |
1923 |
Republican People's Party |
1927 |
|||||
1931 |
|||||
1935 |
|||||
15 years and 13 days |
|||||
2 |
İsmet İnönü (1884–1973) |
10 November 1938 |
27 May 1950 |
1938 |
Republican People's Party |
1939 |
|||||
1943 |
|||||
1946 |
|||||
11 years and 198 days |
|||||
3 |
Celâl Bayar (1883–1986) |
27 May 1950 |
27 May 1960 |
1950 |
Democrat Party |
1954 |
|||||
1957 |
|||||
10 years and 1 day |
|||||
4 |
Cemal Gürsel (1895–1966) |
27 May 1960 |
28 March 1966 |
— |
Independent |
1961 |
|||||
4 years and 170 days |
|||||
5 |
Cevdet Sunay (1899–1982) |
28 March 1966 |
28 March 1973 |
1966 |
Independent |
7 years and 1 day |
|||||
6 |
Fahri Korutürk (1903–1987) |
28 March 1973 |
6 April 1980 |
1973 |
Independent |
7 years and 1 day |
|||||
- |
İhsan Sabri Çağlayangil (1908-1993) |
6 April 1980 |
12 September 1980 |
||
160 days |
|||||
7 |
Kenan Evren (1917–2015) |
12 September 1980 |
9 November 1989 |
— |
Independent |
1982 |
|||||
7 years and 1 day |
|||||
8 |
Turgut Özal (1927–1993) |
9 November 1989 |
17 April 1993 |
1989 |
Independent |
3 years and 160 days |
|||||
- |
Hüsamettin Cindoruk (born 1933) |
17 April 1993 |
16 May 1993 |
||
30 days |
|||||
9 |
Süleyman Demirel (1924–2015) |
16 May 1993 |
16 May 2000 |
1993 |
Independent |
7 years and 1 day |
|||||
10 |
Ahmet Necdet Sezer (born 1941) |
16 May 2000 |
28 August 2007 |
2000 |
Independent |
7 years and 105 days |
|||||
11 |
Abdullah Gül (born 1950) |
28 August 2007 |
28 August 2014 |
2007 |
Independent |
7 years and 1 day |
|||||
12 |
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 1954) |
28 August 2014 |
Incumbent |
2014 |
Independent |
2018 |
Justice and Development Party |
||||
8 years and 166 days |
The median age at the inauguration of incoming Turkish presidents is 63.5 years.
The youngest person to accept the presidency of Turkey was Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He was the founding father of the newly formed Turkish Republic only at the age of 42.
Fahri Korutürk was the oldest to become president by election. He was inaugurated at age 69.
Abdullah Gül was the youngest person to become a former president at the age of 63.
Celâl Bayar was the oldest president at the end of his tenure at 77.
At age 103, Celâl Bayar was also the nation's longest-lived president.
He is one of three Turkish presidents (along with Süleyman Demirel and Kenan Evren) to have lived into their 90s.
As of 2023, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 68, is the youngest living president.
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