Turkey will hold historic parliamentary and presidential elections on Sunday. Polling stations are open nationwide until 5 p.m. After 20 years in power, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan must be concerned about his re-election. An infighting ensues between him and opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
Kilicdaroglu is head of the social-democratic CHP, representing a broad coalition of six parties. He promises to abolish the presidential system. “We missed democracy very much,” he said at the vote.
“Spring” will hopefully come soon, the 74-year-old said, referring to a possible victory in the election.
Sinan Ogan is the third candidate for a nationalist alliance, but polls say he has no chance of winning. If none of the candidates achieves an absolute majority in the first round, a second round will take place on 28 May.
61 million Turks eligible to vote
About 61 million people are called to vote, including about five million people who voted for the first time. Turkish citizens in Germany and Austria have already voted.
Erdogan has been in power for decades
Erdogan became prime minister in 2003 and has been president since 2014. Since the introduction of a presidential system five years ago, he has had far-reaching powers, but parliament has been weakened. It is not yet clear who will win the majority in the National Assembly with its 600 deputies.
The vote is monitored by international observers from the OSCE and the Council of Europe. The first partial results, which initially have little meaning, are expected before the evening. Reliable results are expected on Monday evening.
Source: Krone
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