The polling stations have closed in the runoff election for the presidency in Turkey. Incumbent Erdogan is considered the favourite, but his challenger Kilicdaroglu fought for every vote to the end. A provisional result is expected in the evening.
The runoff election for the presidency took place in Turkey today – the polling stations have now closed. Incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has led Turkey for 20 years, is seen as the favorite for another five-year term.
In the first round of voting two weeks ago, Erdogan was ahead of his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, but with 49.5 percent of the vote he just missed the necessary absolute majority. The 74-year-old Kilicdaroglu, chairman of the social democratic Republican People’s Party CHP, came to 44.9 percent.
Opposition candidate Kilicdaroglu called on his fellow citizens to end Erdogan’s “authoritarian” rule.
Kilicdaroglu: End “authoritarian” rule
The opposition candidate Kilicdaroglu campaigned for votes to the end: when he cast his vote in Ankara, he called on his fellow citizens to end Erdogan’s “authoritarian” rule. “So that real democracy and freedom can find their way here, so that we can free ourselves from an authoritarian government, I call on the citizens to vote,” said Kilicdaroglu.
Kilicdaroglu also called for people to keep a close eye on the ballot boxes even after the polling stations have closed. After all, the presidential election was “held under difficult conditions”.
“Every kind of slander and slander has been raised, but I trust the common sense of the citizens,” Kilicdaroglu said in front of numerous supporters in front of the polling station. “Democracy is definitely coming in this country, freedom will come.”
CHP: Attack on election observers
Kilicdaroglu’s CHP party in the south-east of the country complained about an attack on their election observers. In the province of Sanliurfa, the party’s election observers were beaten and their phones smashed because they objected to irregularities, wrote the deputy parliamentary group leader Özgür Özel on Twitter. The incident happened in a village in the province, and CHP MP Ali Seker was there. The information could not be independently verified.
No major irregularities were reported after the first round of voting. However, the opposition and foreign observers have repeatedly criticized the unfair election campaign, as the Turkish media are largely in the hands of the government camp and the opposition received far less airtime.
Erdogan cast his ballot today with his wife Emine at a polling station in Istanbul. He called for active participation in the election.
Erdogan calls for elections
Erdogan cast his ballot today with his wife Emine at a polling station in Uskudar, a neighborhood in the Asian part of Istanbul. He called for active participation in the election. “No country in the world has a 90 percent voter turnout,” he said. “Turkey has almost reached it. I call on my fellow citizens not to give up and to go to the polls.” In the first round of voting on May 14, 87 percent of eligible voters cast their votes.
Strong nationalism
The choice is indicative. Critics fear that Turkey could slip completely into autocracy if Erdogan wins again.
The first ballot showed that support for nationalism, which is so prevalent in Turkish politics, has increased. The background is not only years of conflict with militant Kurds and the attempted coup in 2016, but also the entry of more than three million refugees from the civil war country Syria against the background of economic problems in Turkey.
It will also be important how the Kurdish voters decide. The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party backed Kilicdaroglu in the first ballot, but did not explicitly name him after his attempt to win nationalist votes, merely urging voters to reject Erdogan’s “one-man regime”. About a fifth of Türkiye’s population is Kurdish.
More than 64 million people were invited to vote. Preliminary results are expected in the evening.