Turkey will soon know its president for the next five years. More than 60 million Turkish voters are called to the polls on Sunday May 28 for the second round of the presidential election. Two candidates are still in the running: the outgoing president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in power for twenty years, and the leader of the opposition, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu. The ultranationalist candidate Sinan Ogan came third in the first round. Follow our live.
Erdogan is the favourite. The outgoing president has a comfortable lead over his rival. In the first round, on May 14, Recep Tayyip Erdogan came out on top with 49.5% of the vote, ahead of Kemal Kiliçdaroglu with 44.9%. And Sinan Ogan, who won 5.2% of the vote, gave his support to the incumbent president for the second round. The chances of victory for the opposition candidate, who created the surprise during the first round campaign, have therefore been reduced.
The Turkish diaspora has already voted. Turks abroad have already voted, between 20 and 24 May. They moved more for the second round, with 1.9 million voters, against 1.69 million in the first. According to the official Anadolu news agency, the Turkish diaspora in France, around 700,000 strong, voted mainly for Erdogan in the first round (nearly 65% according to the Turkish press).
Erdogan’s majority coalition in parliament. The legislative elections, held on Sunday May 14, saw Erdogan’s alliance triumph. Composed of its Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its allies, in particular the Nationalist Action Party (extreme right), the coalition won 322 seats out of 600, against 213 for the opposition alliance, which includes the Republican People’s Party (CHP) of Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, and 65 seats for the pro-Kurdish left coalition.