2nd Round Presidential Candidates - May 28, 2023
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was born on February 26, 1954 in the Kasımpaşa district of Istanbul. He was known for his athletic abilities and played amateur football from 1969 to 1982. Erdoğan was involved in the National Turkish Students' Association from his high school years and began his active political career in the National Salvation Party (MSP). He was elected as the President of the Beyoğlu Youth Branch first and then as the President of the Istanbul Youth Branch. In 1982, he went to the military as a reserve officer. In 1984, he was appointed as the District President of the Refah Party in Beyoğlu, and in 1985, he became the Provincial President in Istanbul. He also became a member of the Central Executive Board of the Refah Party. In the local elections held in 1989, he became a candidate for the Mayor of Beyoğlu. Despite being elected as a member of parliament in 1991, he could not enter the parliament due to the preferential voting system. He was elected as the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in the local elections held on March 27, 1994. On December 12, 1997, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison for reciting a poem. He completed his sentence at the Kırıkkale Pınarhisar Prison on July 24, 1999. On August 14, 2001, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan founded the Justice and Development (AK) Party and was elected as the party's leader by the Founding Board. Due to a ban on his candidacy, he could not run for parliament in the elections held on November 3, 2002. He entered the parliament after the renewed elections in Siirt on March 9, 2003. On March 15, 2003, he became the Prime Minister after Abdullah Gül's resignation. His party won the elections on March 28, 2004, July 22, 2007, March 29, 2009, June 12, 2011, and March 30, 2014. In the presidential election held in 2014, he became the first president elected by the public. In the June 24 elections, he became the common candidate of the People's Alliance and won the presidency again with 53% of the vote. He is running again as the common candidate of the People's Alliance in the presidential elections to be held on May 14, 2023. 
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu CHP
Chairman
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was born in 1948 in the Nazımiye district of Tunceli. He received his primary and secondary education in various Anatolian cities such as Erciş, Tunceli, Genç, and Elazığ. In 1971, Kılıçdaroğlu graduated from Ankara Academy of Economic and Commercial Sciences (now Gazi University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences) and began his career as an Assistant Tax Inspector at the Ministry of Finance after passing the Tax Inspector Assistantship Exam. In 1991, Kılıçdaroğlu was assigned to Bağ-Kur and later became the General Director of Social Security Institution in 1992. He then served as the Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security for a short period of time. In 1999, Kılıçdaroğlu retired from the Social Security Institution. After his retirement, Kılıçdaroğlu worked as a member of the Board of Directors at Türkiye’s İş Bank. He then entered politics and was elected as a Member of Parliament for Istanbul from the Republican People's Party (CHP) in the 2002 general elections. Kılıçdaroğlu served as a member of the CHP Central Executive Committee and was elected as a Member of Parliament for Istanbul in the 23rd term in the 2007 general elections. He held the position of CHP Group Deputy Chairman until he announced his candidacy for the party's leadership. In the 33rd Ordinary Congress of the CHP held on May 22, 2010, Kılıçdaroğlu was elected as the party's leader. On May 14, 2023, Kılıçdaroğlu was announced as the presidential candidate for the People's Alliance in the upcoming presidential elections.