Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip ErdoganReuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted on Saturday that he would seek office for the last time next year, saying it was time to hand the baton over to "young people".

Speaking in the city of Samsun in northern Turkey and quoted by Euronews, Erdogan said, "Hopefully, in 2023, we will start the construction of the Turkish century with the strength we will receive from our nation's support for the last time on our behalf".

"We will hand over this sacred flag to our young people," he added.

Turkey is due to hold nationwide elections in 2023.

Erdogan won the last election in 2018 in the first round, receiving 52.5% of the vote and preventing a run-off.

Erdogan's AKP party has been in power since 2003, but has a battering in the polls over recent economic turbulence, which is perceived by experts as being down to government mismanagement, according to Euronews.

In his remarks on Saturday, Erdogan said that his party had made Turkey a key player on the world stage.

"We have not only been solving age-old problems for 20 years," he said. "We have established a service infrastructure that even developed countries envy. Now, they say Turkey is a really different country. Every global crisis is conducive to a better understanding of our country's power."

Erdogan has in the past taken an anti-Israel line, but Israel and Turkey announced in August that they would normalize relations and reinstate their ambassadors and their consuls general.

Erdogan recently said that Turkey wants sustainable ties with Israel no matter the result of Israel’s election.

He later held a 12-minute phone call with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu in which Erdogan congratulated Netanyahu on his election victory. The two leaders said that they will cooperate in starting a new age in Israeli-Turkish relations.