The President and the Presidents of the Republic Of Turkey
The President of the Republic is the Head of the State. They represent the Republic of Turkey and the unity of the Turkish nation. The President is elected for a seven-year term by a two-thirds majority of the full membership of the TGNA. Turkish citizens of at least forty years in age can be elected President by the TGNA's secret ballot process. They can be either deputies who have received a higher education or those who are qualified to be elected as a deputy. A President cannot be elected for a second term in office.
The President of the Republic has functions and authority related to the legislative, executive, and judicial fields. The President legislative duties are to convene the TGNA when necessary, to publish laws and when deemed necessary to send them back to the Parliament for discussion, to hold a referendum in Constitutional amendments when they consider it necessary, to file suit with the Constitutional Court claiming a violation of Constitutional law, to issue decrees with the power of law and regulate the internal workings of the Parliament, and to decide when new TGNA elections are necessary. Their executive duties are to appoint or accept the resignation of the Prime Minister, to appoint or dismiss Ministers in the event that he deems it necessary, to chair meetings of the Council of Ministers or summon the Council to meet under his chairmanship, to appoint accredited envoys to represent the Turkish State abroad and receive representatives of foreign states, to ratify and publish international agreements, to act as the Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish Armed Forces, to appoint the Chief of General Staff, to convene the National Security Council and to chair meetings of the Council, to proclaim martial law or impose a state of emergency by a decree to be decided by the Council of Ministers meeting under his chairmanship, and to issue decrees with the power of law, to approve decrees as signatory, to commute or pardon the sentences of certain convicts on the grounds of old age, chronic illness or infirmity, to appoint the members and President of the State Auditory Council, to conduct investigations, enquires, and research through the State Auditory Council, to select the members of the Higher Education Council, and to appoint University Chancellors. The President's judiciary duties are to appoint members of the Constitutional Court , one fourth of the members of the Supreme Court of Appeals, members of the Supreme Military Appeals Tribunal, and members of the Supreme Council of Judges and Public Prosecutors.
No appeal may be made to any legal body, including the Constitutional Court , against decrees and presidential orders signed directly by the President of the Republic.
The Presidents of the Republic of Turkey:
• Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
(October 29, 1923 November 10, 1938)
• Ismet Inönü
(November 11, 1938 May 22, 1950)
• Celal Bayar
(May 22, 1950 May 27, 1960)
• Cemal Gürsel
(May 27, 1960 March 28, 1966)
• Cevdet Sunay
(March 29, 1966 March 28, 1973)
• Fahri Korutürk
(April 06, 1973 April 06, 1980)
• Kenan Evren
(September 18, 1980 November 08, 1989)
• Turgut Özal
(November 09, 1989 April 17, 1993)
• Süleyman Demirel
(May 16, 1993 May 16, 2000)
• Ahmet Necdet Sezer
(May 16, 2000 August 28, 2007)
• Abdullah Gül (Current President of The Republic of Turkey)
(August 28, 2007 )
