Atatürk,Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,İsmet İnönü,Süleyman Demirel,Adnan Menderes,Turgut Özal,Bülent Ecevit
Who have held the most total positions in the administrations of the Republic of Türkiye?
The system of head of the executive (the leader governing the government) in the Republic of Turkey has varied according to different periods:
- Between 1923 and 2018, the head of the executive and government was the Prime Minister (the President was the head of state).
- After 2018, with the Presidential Government System, executive power and the head of government passed to the President.
Accordingly, when we rank the leaders who governed the Republic of Turkey for the longest period (including their terms as Prime Minister and President as Head of Government) from longest to shortest, the table is as follows:
1. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
- Total Time: ~15 Years 4 Months (In Office)
- Terms:
- As Prime Minister: March 14, 2003 – August 28, 2014 (~11 years 5 months)
- As Head of Government (President) after the System Change: July 9, 2018 – Present (~7 years 11 months)
- Note: The first presidential term between 2014-2018 is not included in this period because it is not considered “head of government” due to the parliamentary system.
2. İsmet İnönü
- Total Time: 14 Years 2 Months
- Periods:
- As the first Prime Minister of the Republic, he served in different cabinets between 1923-1924 and 1925-1937, and also between 1961-1965 after the 1960 coup.
3. Süleyman Demirel
- Total Time: 10 Years 10 Months
- Periods:
- Between 1965-1993, he served as Prime Minister in a total of 7 different governments, including coalition and nationalist front governments, with the nicknames “King of Dams” and “Father”.
4. Adnan Menderes
- Total Time: 10 Years
- Terms:
- He formed and governed 5 separate governments continuously between May 22, 1950 and May 27, 1960, during the Democratic Party era.
5. Turgut Özal
- Total Time: 5 Years 11 Months
- Terms:
- He served as Prime Minister as the leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP) between December 13, 1983 and October 31, 1989.
6. Bülent Ecevit
- Total Time: 5 Years 7 Months
- Periods:
- He served as Prime Minister 5 times between 1974, 1977, 1978-1979 and finally 1999-2002 (including the DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition).
Additional Information Regarding the Presidency (Head of State):
If your question were about “Time in Office” (Presidency) instead of the head of government, the leadership would belong to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who served as president continuously for 15 years and 23 days. Ismet İnönü would be second with 12 years.