Politics of Turkey takes place in a framework of a strictly secular parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Turkey is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The President of Turkey is the head of state who holds a largely ceremonial role but with substantial reserve powers.

Turkey's political system is based on a separation of powers. Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers. Legislative power is vested in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Its current constitution was adopted on 7 November 1982 after the Turkish constitutional referendum.

Abdullah Gül – President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – Prime Minister

Turkish Electoral System (before the 2007 referendum)

The function of head of state is performed by the president (Cumhurbaşkanı). A president is elected every five years on the principle of universal suffrage according to the current constitution. The president does not have to be a member of parliament, but he/she must be over 40 years old and hold a bachelor's degree. The current president Abdullah Gül was elected by Parliament on August 28 2007. Executive power rests with the president, the prime minister (Başbakan) and the Council of Ministers (Bakanlar Kurulu) (Cabinet Erdoğan III). The ministers don't have to be members of Parliament (a recent example is Kemal Derviş). The prime minister is appointed by the President and approved through a vote of confidence (güvenoyu) in the Parliament. The prime minister is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose conservative Justice and Development Party won a majority of parliamentary seats in the 2011 general elections.

Turks in Germany (occasionally German Turks or Turkish Germans, Turkish: Almanya Türkleri or Almancılar) are people of Turkish ethnicity living in Germany who form the largest ethnic group after Germans. In 2010 the German Embassy stated that there was an estimated 3.5 million people of Turkish origin living in Germany, although other estimates suggest that there are now more than 4 million Turks and German citizens with part or full Turkish ancestry in Germany, forming about 5% of Germany's total population.

The German states have been in contact with Turks since the 17th and 18th centuries when the Ottoman Turks attempted to expand their territories beyond the north Balkan territories. Two sieges were held in Vienna in 1529 and 1683. It was the latter incident that, after the retreat of the Ottoman army, left behind many Muslim Turks who first became permanent residents in Germany. The relief of Vienna and the Ottoman retreat left behind large numbers of Ottoman soldiers and camp followers, either as stragglers or prisoners.

Aygül Özkan (born 27 August 1971 in Hamburg) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union. Since 2010, she has served as Minister of Social Affairs, Women, Families, Health and Integration in the state of Lower Saxony, in the Second Cabinet Wulff and the Cabinet McAllister.

Özkan's father immigrated from Ankara (Turkey) to Hamburg (West Germany) in the 1960s, where he first worked for Deutsche Bundespost and subsequently set up an independent business as a tailor in Hamburg.

Özkan became a German citizen when she was 18 years old. She went on to study law at the University of Hamburg, and became an attorney-at-law in 1998. She is married to a doctor who also has a Turkish background, and has a son.

Özkan joined the CDU in 2004. She is married to a gynaecologist of Turkish origin.