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Decisive day in Türkiye. The polling stations opened at 8 a.m., 5 a.m. UT. The country elects this Sunday, May 14 its president and its deputies. The outgoing head of state, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will try to win a third term but against him, his main rival, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, is favored by most polls.
All polling stations in Türkiye are now open. This represents just over 192,000 offices, to which 60.7 million voters are called; the Turks abroad, having already voted.
Turkish citizens have traditionally turned out in droves to vote, with turnout rates above 80%. Given the importance of what is at stake – that is to say, essentially, the maintenance in power or the departure of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after 20 years of reign – we expect a strong mobilization of voters . Among Turks abroad, in any case, turnout reached 54% this year, four points more than in the previous elections in 2018.
A vote under high security
After a particularly tense, even violent campaign, the day begins calmly. The Ministry of the Interior has mobilized nearly 600,000 police, gendarmes and other personnel responsible for guaranteeing the security of the ballot.
The opposition, which says it has no confidence in the electoral authorities, has also taken precautions to ensure the regularity of the results. The alliance which supports Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, the main rival of Tayyip Erdogan, claims to be able to count on more than half a million assessors and observers in the polling stations.
Closing of the offices is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. UT)
♦ Reporting
The choice of the opposition candidate was not easy, but Kemal Kiliçdaroglu succeeded in bringing together the various components of this opposition, reports our special correspondent in Istanbul, Guilhem Delteil, with Hasan Dizman.
Now we can see the polls. The Table des six chose it, so it’s the best. And the results of the election will show us that we were right…
Listen to the report
