Editing Politics of Turkey (section)

== Suffrage ==
Every Turkish citizen who has turned 18 has the [[Suffrage|right to vote]] and stand as a candidate at elections. [[Universal suffrage]] for both sexes has been applied throughout Turkey since 1934.<ref>{{cite news |title=Turkish women celebrate 85th anniversary of suffrage |url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-women-celebrate-85th-anniversary-of-suffrage-149490 |access-date=18 April 2022 |work=Hürriyet Daily News |date=5 December 2019 |language=en |archive-date=12 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412174514/https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-women-celebrate-85th-anniversary-of-suffrage-149490 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to the [[Constitution of the Ottoman Empire]] (1876), the [[age of candidacy]] was 30 and the [[voting age]] was 25. In the newly established Republic of Turkey, the voting age was reduced to 18 due to the decreasing population, and the age of candidacy was still 30. The voting age was increased to 22 in 1934, decreased to 21 in 1987, and 18 in 1995.

The age of candidacy dropped from 30 to 25 through a constitutional amendment in 2006.<ref>{{cite news |title=Milletvekili seçilme yaşı 25'e iniyor |url=https://www.haberturk.com/gundem/haber/2230-milletvekili-secilme-yasi-25e-iniyor |access-date=18 April 2022 |work=www.haberturk.com |date=6 October 2006 |language=tr |archive-date=18 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418080456/https://www.haberturk.com/gundem/haber/2230-milletvekili-secilme-yasi-25e-iniyor |url-status=live }}</ref> Following the [[2017 Turkish constitutional referendum|2017 constitutional referendum]], it was further lowered to 18.<ref>{{cite news |title='Lowering age of candidacy shows trust in youth' |url=https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2017/02/11/lowering-age-of-candidacy-shows-trust-in-youth |access-date=18 April 2022 |work=Daily Sabah |date=11 February 2017 |archive-date=18 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418080459/https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2017/02/11/lowering-age-of-candidacy-shows-trust-in-youth |url-status=live }}</ref>