In a telephone interview with the BBC World Service just before the Aug. 10 presidential election, the voice on the other end of the line asked me to describe what a Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presidency would look like. The question unmistakably related to charges of authoritarianism often directed against the former prime minister in certain Turkish and international media outlets. More specifically, she wanted to hear my thoughts about the possibility of Erdoğan presiding over cabinet meetings – a red flag for many observers. "He will act in accordance with the Constitution just like his predecessors," I said briefly, quite possibly leaving the interviewer rather displeased.The first six months of Mr. Erdoğan's tenure proved me right. The newly elected president did not only attempt to expand his constitutional mandate, but also opted to not exercise all the powers of the office.Over the past weeks, whether or not Erdoğan will chair Cabinet meetings became a hotly debated topic among pundits. It all started with former minister, Binali Yıldırım, currently serving as a political advisor at the Presidential Palace, publicly claiming that the president was going to preside over the Cabinet meeting on Jan. 5. Over the next days, senior government officials, including Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, reacted in opposition to Yıldırım's statements. Finally, Mr. Erdoğan announced that he intended to call a meeting of the Council of Ministers on Jan. 19 – a move that Davutoğlu and other ostensibly welcomed. While opposition columnists were quick to announce that "Erdoğan reminded Davutoğlu of the limits of his powers," backroom chatter in the Turkish capital suggests that the initial reaction was directed at Yıldırım for overstepping his boundaries. At this point, the general sense is that Erdoğan's decision sets a completely new precedent in the Republic's history. A quick look at contemporary history, however, might just prove conventional wisdom wrong. Five out of the country's eight most recent presidents – Cemal Gürsel, Fahri Korutürk, Kenan Evren, Turgut Özal and Süleyman Demirel – exercised their right to preside over Cabinet meetings – which is part of the presidential mandate under Article 104 of the Constitution along with the right to preside over the National Security Council, deliver the opening address to Parliament on the first day of each legislative year, call for parliamentary elections as well as appoint university chancellors and members of the Board of Higher Education. In this sense, Erdoğan›s immediate predecessors, Abdullah Gül, who served from 2007 to 2014, and Ahmet Necdet Sezer from 2000 to 2007, represented major exceptions to the rule.At this point, it remains to be seen whether the Jan. 19 summit will be an extraordinary event or mark the beginning of a new trend that will continue for the next five – or possibly 10 – years. There will surely enough be a lengthy conversation about the advantages and downsides of such an arrangement. The important thing to remember though is that the broader debate on changing from a parliamentary to presidential system will not be settled until the 2015 parliamentary election.