Turkey casts ballots in the crucial presidential runoff

The outcome will decide the direction the nation takes over the next five years.

The results of a runoff election in Turkey will decide whether the conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan keeps his position in office or cedes it to his more liberal rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

All 81 provinces opened their polling places at 8 a.m. local time on Election Day, when more than 60 million people are eligible to cast ballots. Over the previous week, an additional 3.4 million Turkish nationals were able to vote overseas, although it is unclear how many did so. On May 14, the first round, approximately 89% of eligible voters participated domestically, while just 49.4% did so abroad.

One hour after the polls close, at 6 p.m. local time, the release of election-related news, projections, and analysis is authorized. Results won’t be released until after 9 o’clock. However, since there will only be two contestants, the Supreme Election Board could announce the preliminary results sooner. The first round of voting took place concurrently with the legislative elections, and because of the complicated ballots, there were delays and complaints from the opposition.

The election’s conclusion might affect the country’s direction for the next five years since the two candidates have divergent perspectives on a variety of topics.

Erdogan is a socially conservative president who took office in 2014 after serving as prime minister for 11 years. Under his direction, Turkey has worked to forge deeper diplomatic and commercial connections with China and Russia while portraying itself as a possible mediator in international disputes, such as the one in Ukraine.

Kilicdaroglu, a moderate, wants to roll back many of Erdogan’s domestic policies, especially the constitutional amendments made in 2016 that boosted the authority of the president. If elected, he has pledged to promptly resume EU admission discussions and to revive Turkey’s economy.

No contender received the required 50% of the vote to win outright in the first round, which resulted in a tie. Kilicdaroglu earned 44.9% of the vote, while Erdogan received 49.5%. Sinan Ogan, who came in third place, garnered 5.17% of the vote and has subsequently formally backed the incumbent.

About 50 Muslim academics have also backed Erdogan, who has presented himself as a champion of traditional Islamic principles in opposition to Kilicdaroglu, a more liberal figure whom Erdogan once referred to as “an LGBT person.” In reaction, the secularist lawmaker took an uncharacteristic turn on Friday and said that supporting Erdogan was “a sin” and that “sincere Muslims” would not do so.