¹ For literature on the move toward authoritarianism and presidentialism, see: Esen, Berk and Gumuscu, Sebnem, “Rising Competitive Authoritarianism in Turkey,” Third World Quarterly 37, no. 9 (February 2016): 1581–1606CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Somer, Murat, “Understanding Turkey's Democratic Breakdown: Old vs. New and Indigenous vs. Global Authoritarianism,” Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 16, no. 4 (November 2016): 481–503CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Özbudun, Ergun, “Turkey's Judiciary and the Drift toward Competitive Authoritarianism,” The International Spectator 50, no. 2 (June 2015): 42–55CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Öniş, Ziya, “Monopolising the Centre: The AKP and the Uncertain Path of Turkish Democracy,” The International Spectator 50, no. 2 (June 2015): 22–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

² Linz, Juan J., “The Perils of Presidentialism,” Journal of Democracy 1, no. 1 (Winter 1990): 51–69.Google Scholar

³ Ibid.

⁴ Mainwaring, Scott, “Presidentialism, Multipartism, and Democracy: The Difficult Combination,” Comparative Political Studies 26, no. 2 (1993): 198–228CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁵ Esen and Gumuscu, “Rising Competitive Authoritarianism.”

⁶ “How Does Turkey's Current Constitution Compare with Proposed Changes?” TRT World, 20 February 2017, https://goo.gl/hwxmb4.

⁷ Özbudun, Ergun “AKP at the Crossroads: Erdoğan's Majoritarian Drift,” South European Society and Politics 19, no. 2 (June 2014): 155–67CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Öniş, “Monopolising the Centre;” Müftüler-Baç, Meltem and Fuat Keyman, E., “Turkey's Unconsolidated Democracy: The Nexus Between Democratisation and Majoritarianism in Turkey,” Global Turkey in Europe III: Democracy, Trade, and the Kurdish Question in Turkey-EU Relations 19, no. 1 (January 2015)Google Scholar; Fuat Keyman, E. and Gumuscu, Sebnem, Democracy, Identity, and Foreign Policy in Turkey (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁸ Gumuscu, Sebnem, “The Emerging Predominant Party System in Turkey,” Government and Opposition 48, no. 2 (December 2012): 223–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Fuat Keyman, E., “The AK Party: Dominant Party, New Turkey and Polarization,” Insight Turkey 16, no. 2 (April 2014): 19Google Scholar; Kubicek, Paul, “Majoritarian Democracy in Turkey,” in Democratic Consolidation in Turkey: Micro and Macro Challenges, eds., Erisen, Cengiz and Kubicek, Paul, (New York: Routledge, 2016)Google Scholar; Selçuk, Orcun “Strong Presidents and Weak Institutions: Populism in Turkey, Venezuela and Ecuador,” Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 16, no. 4 (October 2016): 571–89CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁹ Esen, Berk and Gümüşçü, Şebnem, “A Small Yes for Presidentialism: The Turkish Constitutional Referendum of April 2017,” South European Society and Politics 22, no. 3 (October 2017): 303–26CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹⁰ The Gülen movement (or Hizmet as their members would call it) was established in 1966 with the goal of fighting communism and raising a “golden generation” that would be pious, hardworking, and well educated with a strong sense of solidarity and ‘military-like discipline’ [Yavuz, Hakan M., Islamic Political Identity in Turkey (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003)Google Scholar]. The leader of the movement, Fethullah Gülen, wary of the secular regime's repression, rejected explicit political mobilization and preferred building a network of educational institutions, civil society organizations, media companies, and businesses motivated by Islamic principles. One of the primary, yet less publicized, targets of Fethullah Gülen remained colonization of the state bureaucracy with the members of the “golden generation,” primarily through manipulation of bureaucratic recruitment processes, i.e. centrally administered tests or appointments based on the drawing of lots. The AKP and the Gülen movement formed a political coalition in the aftermath of the 2007 elections with the purpose of counterbalancing the Kemalist bureaucracy in the judiciary and armed forces. As part of this agenda, the allies passed a constitutional referendum in 2010 to redesign the structure of the higher courts and carried out sham trials (Ergenekon and Balyoz) to liquidate Kemalist officers from the military. Soon after this liquidation the former alliance ended in a power struggle that spanned years and took different forms including an attempted coup in July 2016. For details on this alliance and its fallout see Sebnem Gumuscu, “The Clash of Islamists: The Crisis of the Turkish State and Democracy,” Project on Middle East Policial Science Memo (November 2016): https://pomeps.org/2016/11/03/the-clash-of-islamists-the-crisis-of-the-turkish-state-and-democracy/.

¹¹ “Turkey's Former President Gül Responds to Criticism from AKP over Controversial Decree Law,” Hürriyet Daily News, last modified 29 December 2017, https://goo.gl/JRHnK9.

¹² Smith, Benjamin, “Life of the Party: The Origins of Regime Breakdown and Persistence under Single-Party Rule,” World Politics 57, no. 3 (April 2005): 421–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹³ Esen and Gümüşçü, “A Small Yes,” 321.

¹⁴ Linz, “The Perils of Presidentialism.” In Venezuela, a similar cohabitation scenario occurred when the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV) lost the 2015 legislative elections but retained the presidency under a competitive authoritarian regime.

¹⁵ Çarkoğlu, Ali, “Ideology or Economic Pragmatism? Profiling Turkish Voters in 2007,” Turkish Studies 9, no. 2 (May 2008): 317–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Berk Esen and Sebnem Gumuscu, “Building a Competitive Authoritarian Regime: State–Business Relations in the AKP's Turkey,” Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies (November 2017): 1–24.

¹⁶ Mustafa Sönmez, “2018 fraught with uncertainties for Turkish economy,” Al Monitor, last modified 29 December 2017, https://goo.gl/F8561N.

¹⁷ “Prof. Dr. Daron Acemoğlu: Bir-iki yılda kriz çıkacak,” Cumhuriyet, last modified 25 December 2017, https://goo.gl/svSEUM.

¹⁸ Esen and Gümüşçü, “A Small Yes.”

¹⁹ Erdem Aytaç, S., Çarkoğlu, Ali and Yıldırım, Kerem, “Taking Sides: Determinants of Support for a Presidential System in Turkey,” South European Society and Politics 22, no. 1 (January 2017): 1–20CrossRefGoogle Scholar; IPSOS Turkey, “Anayasa Referandum Sandik Sonrasi Raporu,” last modified April 2017, https://goo.gl/y5jJsH.

²⁰ Linz, “The Perils of Presidentialism.”

²¹ Theoretically, Erdoğan could also build a coalition with Kurds to win the presidency, however, current regional dynamics, particularly the crisis in Syria, render it unlikely at least in the short-run.

²² Esen and Gümüşçü, “A Small Yes.”