The presidential election runoff round in Turkey takes place on Sunday.
Over 60 million residents with voting rights will pick between the incumbent president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the opposition coalition’s nominee, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
The polls opened at 08:00 local time and will finish at 17:00. The first unofficial runoff round results are likely to be published Sunday evening.
Erdogan won 49.5 percent of the vote in the first round of presidential elections on May 14, while Kilicaroglu received 44.9 percent of the vote.
Over 60 million residents with voting rights will pick between the incumbent president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the opposition coalition’s nominee, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
The polls opened at 08:00 local time and will finish at 17:00. The first unofficial runoff round results are likely to be published Sunday evening.
In the first round of the presidential election, conducted on May 14, Erdogan came out on top, receiving 49.5 percent of the vote, while Kilicaroglu received 44.9 percent.
Erdogan did not win the elections in the first round for the first time in his 20-year reign.
A day before the runoff, Erdogan urged Turks to vote, while Kilicaroglu urged the country to emerge from “the darkness” that has descended on it under Erdogan’s two-decade leadership.
The opposition sees the presidential and parliamentary elections in May as the best chance to depose Erdogan and reverse the reforms enacted by the Turkish president.
The two contenders have concentrated their run-off campaign on persuading the approximately 8 million voters who did not vote in the first round of elections to vote in the second round.
In addition to the presidential elections on May 14, legislative elections were held, and Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK) gained the parliamentary majority.
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