Erdogan takes the upper hand in the race to retain the presidency of Turkey as voting moves towards a run-off

 


In two weeks, there will be a run-off election for the presidency of Turkey, with incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan looking to be in the lead as voting closes.

Despite attempts by both Mr. Erdogan's party and the opposition, led by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, to claim that they still have a chance to win, no candidate is likely to surpass the needed 50% threshold for an outright victory. Ahmet Yener, the president of the Supreme Electoral Board, reported that Mr. Erdogan had received 49.4% of the votes and Mr. Kilicdaroglu had received 45% after 99.4% of the domestic ballots and 84% of the foreign votes had been tallied. A fairly high 88.8% of voters participated, demonstrating the significance of the presidential election.

The presidential vote, which coincided with legislative elections, was anticipated to be close. A six-party opposition coalition unified around Mr. Kilicdaroglu is emboldened and unusually broad in its support, and Mr. Erdogan is battling to maintain his 20 years in office. On May 28, the two would face off in a run-off. However, with Mr. Kilicdaroglu leading in the most recent polls conducted before the election, there may be some dissatisfaction in the opposition camp that Mr. Erdogan may have the advantage going into a second round.

Nationalist Sinan Ogan, a third contender, received about 5.2 percent of the vote. If he chooses to support one of the two candidates in the runoff, he might have a "kingmaker" effect.

Mr. Kilicdaroglu urged his followers in the 84 million-person nation to exercise patience as he accused Erdogan's party of tampering with the counting and reporting of results. Overnight, the counts reported by pro-government and pro-opposition outlets varied significantly.

The People's Alliance, led by Mr. Erdogan, looked to have gained a majority in parliament, potentially giving him a decisive advantage in the presidential runoff. Pro-government media applauded the results, with the Yeni Safak daily declaring "The people won" in reference to Mr. Erdogan's victory. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Mr. Erdogan and the People's Republican Party (CHP) fought over how to report the results of the vote count as they came in, illustrating how bitter this election has grown.

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