Join the race for the presidency in Turkey
Incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan And
Challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in a second round on Sunday. The 69-year-old Erdogan is the favorite. He had received the most votes in the first round two weeks ago, but just missed the necessary absolute majority.
The result of the first vote surprised many: polls had predicted a second round, but 74-year-old Kilicdaroglu was the favourite. There are some 2.5 million votes between Erdogan and his opponent, whom the opposition now wants to overtake. In Turkey, about 61 million people are called to vote.
The choice is indicative. Erdogan has been in power for 20 years. Since the introduction of a presidential system in 2018, he has more power than ever before. Critics fear the country, with a population of about 85 million, could slide completely into autocracy if he wins again. Kilicdaroglu represents an alliance of six parties from different camps and vows to democratize the country. Internationally, the mood in the NATO country is closely monitored.
The first round of voting was considered fundamentally free, but unfair. International election observers criticized the government’s media dominance and lack of transparency in voting. The electoral authority YSK is also considered to be politicized.
The vote comes on a date symbolic of the opposition: Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of the Gezi protests critical of the government. The demonstrations in the spring of 2013 initially targeted the development of Istanbul’s central Gezi Park. They expanded into nationwide demonstrations against the increasingly authoritarian policies of Erdogan, who was still prime minister at the time. This brutally crushed the mostly peaceful protests.
The dominant topic for the second round was migration. Both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu received the support of right-wing politicians. Kilicdaroglu, in particular, made the repatriation of refugees to Syria his main campaign theme and clearly sharpened his tone from the first round.
Turkey alone is home to some 3.4 million refugees from Syria. For Europe, it plays a major role in migration policy. Another topic in the election campaign was the bad economic situation with huge inflation. Erdogan repeatedly insulted the opposition as “terrorists”.
In parliament, Erdogan’s government alliance managed to win an absolute majority in elections two weeks ago. Should Kilicdaroglu win on Sunday, he would not be able to single-handedly push through the constitutional changes needed to abolish the presidential system.
Polling stations in Turkey open at 07:00 (CEST) and close at 16:00 (CEST). The first partial results, which initially have little meaning, are expected in the evening. (con/sda/dpa)