Incumbent Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and leader of the opposition Kemal Kilicdaroglu cast their votes in Sunday’s presidential election runoff
Challenger Kilicdaroglu lagged him by nearly five pointsNationalist vote split by different endorsementsANKARA, May 28 - Turks voted on Sunday in a presidential runoff that could seeextend his rule into a third decade and persist with Turkey's increasingly authoritarian path, muscular foreign policy and unorthodox economic governance.
Voting started at 8 a.m. and will finish at 5 p.m. . The outcome is expected to start becoming clear by early evening local time. Polling stations were reportedly quieter in many places than two weeks ago, when turnout was 89%. "With God's permission he will win. The country has many problems but if anyone can solve them, he can," said Nuran, who came to vote with her three-year-old daughter.
Kilicdaroglu, 74, voted in Ankara. He is the candidate of a six-party opposition alliance, and leads the Republican People's Party created by Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. His camp has struggled to regain momentum after trailing Erdogan in the first round. Third-place presidential candidate and hardline nationalist Sinan Ogan said he endorsed Erdogan based on a principle of "non-stop struggle terrorism", referring to pro-Kurdish groups. He achieved 5.17% of the vote.A voter is assisted during the second round of the presidential election in Istanbul, Turkey May 28, 2023. REUTERS/Kemal Aslan TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
"Turkey has a longstanding democratic tradition and a longstanding nationalist tradition, and right now it's clearly the nationalist one that's winning out," said Nicholas Danforth, Turkey historian and non-resident fellow at think tank ELIAMEP. "Erdogan has fused religious and national pride, offering voters an aggressive anti-elitism."Erdogan has taken control of most of Turkey's institutions and sidelined liberals and.
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