the Turkish community in France is mobilizing for the second round of the presidential election

Consulate security seems dizzy. Tuesday, May 23, Turkish nationals in France vote for the second round of the presidential election which will pit, Sunday, May 28 in Turkey, outgoing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against his competitor Kemal Kiliçdaroglu. A constant stream of voters enter and exit the building, passing each other. The Turkish community numbers nearly two million people in France. These voters sometimes have differing opinions.

Sefjane is 28 years old, was born in France. What matters to her is that Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to weigh on the international scene: “He’s one of the few who can bang his fist on the table a bit, against the United States for example, she explains. It is also one of the only ones to stand up to the other side, to Putin and to other great powers emerging and already installed in the world.“

Recep Tayyip Erdogan won 64% of France’s votes in the first round

Like 64% of the Turks in France who voted in the first round in favor of the outgoing president, Sefjane wants balance, not to say stability, and she finds her notions there with Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Where the leap into the unknown with Kiliçdaroglu does not scare Ruhichen, who has been living in the Paris region for 47 years. She assures us that the Turkey of today bothers her, and that it is not for herself that she votes but “For the people who live there, she says. They have to be like everyone else, like in Europe, in democracy, in well-educated secularism. I would like to see my compatriots like that.”

“I am here, I live there, I have a good salary. I will vote for those who live in misery, says Zafer, who says he is consumed by guilt vis-à-vis those who reside in Turkey. If I’m here, it’s because there’s a reason, a good reason.” His ballot, like all the votes collected in France, will head to Ankara on Thursday 25 May. The ballot boxes, sealed, will be flown to the headquarters of the electoral commission, where the votes from abroad will be counted with the others on Sunday May 28 at the end of the evening. This process does not reassure Zafer, who says he fears fraud.