It was a fateful election for Turkey, the runoff election for the presidency. The first results are expected in the evening.
Ankara – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been in power in Turkey for 20 years. From 2003 to 2014, first as prime minister, from 2014 as president of the country – and most recently equipped with significantly expanded powers. So far he has had little to fear from political competitors, the incumbent was firmly in the saddle. However, in this election, the first presidential run-off in Turkey’s history, his chair wobbled more than ever.
The most recent polls indicated a relatively close result – in most of them, however, Erdoğan was a few percentage points ahead of his social democratic challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who ran for a six-party alliance. In the first ballot, Erdoğan only just missed an absolute majority with 49.5 percent of the votes. Kilicdaroglu followed in second place with 44.9 percent, although polls shortly before the election had put him ahead of Erdoğan.
Runoff election in Turkey: when will the first results be available?
Around 61 million eligible voters were able to cast their votes on Sunday (May 27) from 9 a.m. (8 a.m. local time). Voting lasted until 4 p.m. (5 p.m. local time). The vote was followed by international observers from the OSCE and the Council of Europe. Partial results, which initially have little significance, are expected in the evening. However, it could take until Monday before the final and, above all, official result is available.
In the first ballot, it was forbidden to publish election forecasts until 5 p.m. (6 p.m. local time), i.e. one hour after the end of voting. From then on, broadcasters were allowed to pass on the information from the highest electoral authority YSK. Only from 8 p.m. (9 p.m. local time) was it finally allowed to publish all the results.
If Erdoğan wins – expansion of power is expected
The fact that Erdoğan had done so well in the first ballot, contrary to the last pre-election polls, came as a surprise to many experts. Not only because of the polls themselves, but also for other reasons, the president was counted out. Mainly because of the bad economic situation in the country or the government’s crisis management after the earthquake in spring, which progressed only slowly.
Political experts such as Turkey researcher Caner Aver consider a victory for President Erdoğan to be likely. He does not believe that his opponent Kilicaroglu still has a realistic chance, Aver told the Catholic News Agency. If he wins again, it is widely expected that Erdoğan will cement his power and further intensify his authoritarian course. In 2018 he introduced a presidential system in Turkey and put almost all power in his own hands.
#result