ISTANBUL: A top adviser to Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Turkish leader would run again in an early election likely to be held in April 2028, media outlets reported on Thursday.

“If 360 lawmakers back a decision to call a new election, it will be held on April 16, 2028,” Mehmet Ucum said in remarks cited by private NTV broadcaster and Cumhuriyet newspaper.

Under Turkish law, an election would normally be held in May that year.

But the constitution allows parliament to trigger early elections if such a move has the support of 360 of the Turkish parliament’s 600 lawmakers, which would open the way for Erdogan to seek another term.

Erdogan’s ruling Islamo-conservative AKP and its nationalist ally MHP control 326 seats in parliament.

The government has repeatedly insisted that elections will be held on schedule.

Erdogan, who came to power as prime minister in 2003, was elected president in 2014 after serving three terms as premier.

Following Turkiye’s switch to an executive presidential system, he was re-elected in 2018 and again in 2023.