Important elections in Turkey could spell the end of Erdogan’s 20-year tenure.
Kilicdaroglu, a member of the opposition, has a slim lead in the polls over Erdogan, whose popularity has been dwindling for years due to the country’s.
ISTANBUL: On Sunday, Turks voted in a presidential election that might bring an end to President Tayyip Erdogan’s autocratic authority or usher in a third decade of his rule.
The election will determine not only who governs Turkey, a NATO member country with 85 million people, but also the direction of the country’s government, economy, and foreign policy in the midst of a major cost of living crisis.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the chairman of a coalition of six opposition parties, has a modest lead in the polls over Erdogan, but if neither candidate receives more than 50% of the vote on May 28, a runoff election would be held.
A new parliament will also be chosen by voters; the race between the People’s Alliance, which includes Erdogan’s conservative Islamist-rooted AK Party (AKP) and the nationalist MHP and others, and Kilicdaroglu’s Nation Alliance, which includes six opposition parties including his secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP), founded by Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, is expected to be close.
Cast your vote between 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and 5 p.m. (1400 GMT). Reporting of any kind of results is illegal in Turkey before 9 p.m. A clearer picture of whether or not a presidential runoff will be necessary may emerge by Sunday night.
Some people said they voted for the opposition while others said they voted for Erdogan in Diyarbakir, a city in the predominantly Kurdish southeast that was struck by a terrible earthquake in February.
The economic crisis in Turkey was the deciding factor for Nuri Can, 26, who voted for Kilicdaroglu. “A change is needed for the country,” she said. I knew there would be another economic catastrophe after the election, so I voted for change.
On the other hand, 51-year-old Hayati Arslan claimed that he voted for Erdogan and the AK Party.
“The economic situation is not good, but I have faith that Erdogan will improve it. Erdogan has brought Turkey’s international reputation to a new high, and he wants it to continue.
Approximately 9,000 law enforcement personnel were on duty across the province as lines gathered at polling sites across the metropolis.
There is little evidence to suggest that the problem of the poor initial government reaction to the earthquake, which killed more than 50,000 people, has influenced how people would vote in the areas devastated by the disaster.
Since the Nation Alliance is unlikely to win a majority in parliament without the support of Kurdish voters, who make about 15-20% of the electorate, they will be crucial.
In recent years, Erdogan’s government has cracked down on members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), despite the fact that the HDP is not part of the major opposition alliance.
Kilicdaroglu has received the HDP’s official endorsement for president. Due to a court action brought by a top prosecutor aiming to ban the HDP over links to Kurdish militants, links which the party denies, the HDP is running in the parliamentary elections under the insignia of the minor Green Left Party.
What do you think?
Erdogan, 69, is a great campaigner and eloquent orator who has spared no effort in his fight to survive his biggest political test. His political career has weathered an attempted coup in 2016 and a slew of corruption scandals, and pious Turks who formerly felt alienated in secular Turkey are fiercely devoted to him.
Inflation that surpassed 85% in October 2022 and the collapse of the lira currency, however, will likely be the main reasons why Turks decide to remove Erdogan from power.
Kilicdaroglu, a 74-year-old former civil servant, has pledged to return to Erdogan’s more conventional economic policies if he is elected.
Kilicdaroglu has also stated that he intends to reverse the 2017 vote that installed Erdogan’s executive presidential system and return the country to a parliamentary form of government. He has also promised to restore the independence of the judiciary, which Erdogan’s opponents have accused of being used to silence opposition.
During his time in office, Erdogan has marginalized liberals and critics while consolidating influence over most Turkish institutions. In its World Report 2022, Human Rights Watch claimed that Erdogan’s administration has rolled back Turkey’s progress on human rights by many decades.
Kilicdaroglu, should he be elected, will have his work cut out for him in maintaining unity among the many groups that make up the opposition alliance.
Foreign interference allegations dominated the campaign’s closing days.
Kilicdaroglu claimed his party has proof that Russia was behind the dissemination of “deep fake” content on the internet, despite Moscow’s denials. To depose him, Erdogan claimed, the opposition was collaborating with Vice President Joe Biden of the United States. The United States does not take political sides, according to a representative for the State Department.
