Istanbul (CNN) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday that the country will hold snap parliamentary and presidential elections on June 24, more than a year earlier than they were due to take place.

The polls will be the first since a referendum last year that transformed Turkey's parliamentary democracy into a powerful executive presidency and will hand the president sweeping new powers after the elections.

Many of the new powers were not expected to take effect until after the polls, which were scheduled to take place in November 2019. Now, the winner of June's presidential vote -- widely expected to be Erdogan -- will be able to use them far quicker than had previously been planned.

"Even though it seems as if there are no serious issues because the administration and the presidency work compatibly, the diseases of the old system pop up at every step," Erdogan said Wednesday. "The ability to make strong decisions and implement them for the future of our country has become more urgent."

"It is imperative to eliminate the idea of elections quickly while there are very important decisions on issues such as the fast paced developments in Syria as well as macroeconomic issues and large investments," Erdogan added.

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