This round will decide whether Erdogan completes a third decade in power, but if his rival Kilicdaroglu wins, expectations point to sweeping changes in Turkey’s foreign policy.
Here are the facts and information about the decisive round and the previous round that paved the way for him:
presidential elections
The Turks elect a president who remains in office for 5 years. In the first round of elections on May 14, Erdogan won 49.5% of the vote, just short of the majority needed to avoid a second round seen as a referendum on his power. Kılıçdaroğlu, who is the candidate of the opposition six-party “Nation” coalition, received the support of 44.9% of voters. Nationalist candidate Sinan Ogan came third, with 5% support, to be excluded. The results baffled the expectations of pollsters, who put Kilicdaroglu in the lead. A 2017 referendum narrowly approved Erdogan’s decision to expand the powers of the presidency, making the head of state the head of government and removing the post of prime minister. Erdogan develops policies related to the economy, security, and domestic and international affairs in his capacity as President of Turkey.
parliamentary elections
The Turks also voted in the legislative elections on May 14.
Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) emerged as the largest party, as expected, and its alliance with nationalists and Islamists won a majority in parliament.
The Justice and Development Party won 268 seats out of a 600-seat assembly, while the party-led “People’s Alliance” won 322 seats.
The main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), led by Kilicdaroglu, won 169 seats, and the total number of seats of the National Alliance to which he belongs reached 212 deputies.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, which ran under the banner of the Green Left Party due to a case to take it to court, won 61 seats. It is not part of the coalition of Kilicdaroglu but is fiercely opposed to Erdogan and strongly supports him. of the head of the CHP.
Support for Erdogan’s AK party has fallen seven points from the 42.6% he won in the 2018 elections, but he has a parliamentary majority due to the coalition he leads.
Erdogan calls on voters to support him in order to ensure political stability.
The two candidates
PRESIDENT ERDOGAN: More than 20 years after coming to power with the AKP, Erdogan hopes to extend his tenure as modern Turkey’s longest-serving leader.
His strong performance on May 14, when he successfully galvanized Conservative voters, defied expectations of his political demise.
His victory would cement the rule of a ruler who would transform Turkey and reshape the secular state founded 100 years ago to fit his pious vision while consolidating his power in what his opponents see as a move towards authoritarianism.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu: He is the main opposition candidate and leader of the Republican People’s Party, which was founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern secular Turkish Republic.
He presented voters with a comprehensive program and promised to improve the democratic system, including a return to the parliamentary system to run the country and the independence of the judiciary.
However, since May 14, he began to toughen up his rhetoric as he tried to convince nationalist voters to defeat Erdogan, pledging to send 10 million refugees back to their country.
“Kingmaker”
Supporters’ choice of third-placed candidate Sinan Oğan will be an important factor in the outcome of the May 28 run-off.
He has yet to announce his support for either of the two candidates, but he could be a potential “kingmaker” if he announces his support for either of them.
In an interview with Reuters, Ogan said he could only support Kilicdaroglu in the second round if he agreed not to make concessions to a pro-Kurdish party.
What are the risks ?
The vote determines not only who will lead Turkey, a NATO member of 85 million people, but also how it will be run, where its economy will go amid a worsening cost of living and the course of its foreign politic.
Erdogan’s critics say his government has silenced dissent, undermined rights and subjugated the justice system, which officials have denied.
The Turkish economy is also at the center of attention. Economists say it was Erdogan’s unorthodox policy of cutting interest rates despite high prices that pushed inflation to 85% last year and sent the lira down to a tenth of its value against the dollar over the past decade.
Kilicdaroglu pledged to reimplement traditional economic policies and restore the independence of Turkey’s central bank.
In foreign affairs, Turkey projected its military power in the Middle East and beyond under Erdogan’s rule, and forged closer ties with Russia, while relations with the European Union and the states States have become increasingly tense.
Turkey and the United Nations also brokered a deal between Moscow and Kiev to resume Ukrainian wheat exports, and Erdogan announced the latest two-month extension to the deal on Wednesday.
vote
More than 64 million Turks have the right to vote in around 192,000 polling stations. The number includes more than 6 million who exercised this right for the first time on May 14.
3.4 million voters abroad will vote from May 20 to 24.
Polling stations open at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and close at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT) on May 28.
Turnout in Turkish elections is generally high. In the first round, he reached 88.9% of the total number of voters.
Results
According to the election rules, news, speculation and commentary on the vote are prohibited until 6 p.m. (1300 GMT), and the media are free to publish election results from 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) only.
However, the Supreme Election Council can and usually does allow the media to report results earlier.
Read the Latest World News Today on The Eastern Herald.
