OZAN KOSE / AFP
On the way to a second round for Erdogan, waivers were issued for the first time
TURKEY – This Sunday evening, May 14, Turkey looks set to face an unprecedented second round of voting depending on the results of the presidential election count, which will see President Recep Tayyip Erdogan level with opponent Kemal Kiliçdaroglu.
The 69-year-old head of state, who has been in power for 20 years, lost the lead over his social democratic rival attributed to him by the official media in the evening and fell to below 50%, according to the Anadolu State Agency.
These results could pave the way for a second round on May 28th. This would be a first for the Republic of Turkey, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Erdogan, who sees himself as “in the lead”, says he will respect the eventual ballot and “the next elections”. Kemal Kiliçdaroglu himself promised victory for his camp “in the second round” of voting on Monday, which now seems proven.
Erdogan was “ready to respect a second round”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday he had a “clear lead” in the presidential election but said he was prepared to “respect” a second round if necessary. “Even though the results are not yet released, we are clearly in the lead,” he told a crowd of supporters gathered in Ankara in the middle of the night (2:30 a.m. local time, 23:30 GMT): ” We respect this election and we will respect the next election,” he assured.
“We don’t know yet if the election will be over with this first ballot, but if people bring us to the second ballot, we will respect that.”
It is the first time in twenty years since he has been in power in Turkey that the leader has been forced into a second round, scheduled for May 28, against his Social Democrat opponent Kemal Kiliçdaroglu. The latter led an unprecedented coalition of six opposition parties.
“The people have opted for stability,” assures Erdogan
“Regardless of the outcome, 27 million people chose to vote for us,” he continued as the count continued.
“I think we will end this election with more than 50% of the votes,” he stressed. “The people have chosen stability and security in this presidential election.”
Erdogan also claimed the “majority” of the 600 seats in parliament for the National Alliance he formed between his party, the AKP and small nationalist and Islamist parties.
Kemal Kiliçdaroglu promises victory in the second round
Kemal Kiliçdaroglu on Monday promised his camp victory “in the second round” of the vote, which now seems to be proven. “If our country demands a second round, we will gladly accept it. And we will definitely win this second round,” he said in the middle of the night from Ankara, surrounded by representatives of the six parties in his coalition.
President Recep Tayyip “Despite all the insults, Erdogan could not get the result he expected,” Kiliçdaroglu continued.
“The need for change in society is over 50%; It is imperative that we conquer and establish democracy in this country,” he said, without mentioning the parliamentary elections taking place at the same time.
battle of numbers
“In case of a second round, we have 15 difficult days ahead of us,” warned Sinon Ogan, a dissident for the nationalist party MHP, refusing to say which candidate he would support. To be declared the winner, one of the top two candidates must achieve a majority of 50% of the vote plus one.
In anticipation of the final results, the two sides engaged in a numbers battle, urging their respective observers to stay in the counting places “until the end”. “We’re in the lead,” said Kemal Kiliçdaroglu.
One of his right-wing men, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, urged “citizens not to take into account the figures Anadolu has cited.”
A record participation rate
In the 16-million-strong metropolis of Istanbul, the 20% of ballots still counted could help Kiliçdaroglu to close the gap.
In Diyarbakir, the Kurdish-majority city in the south-east of the country, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu received more than 71% of the votes on four-fifths of the ballots counted, according to Anadolu.
Throughout the day, the ballot boxes were filled with large mustard-colored envelopes deposited by voters who sometimes waited several hours in front of the schools-turned-polling stations. The participation rate, which is almost 90%, has not been officially communicated.
Waiver, a setback for Erdogan
At stake are the election of the thirteenth President of the Turkish Republic, who is celebrating his first century, and the future of the head of state, who hopes to stay in power after what the polls had predicted to be close.
The winner must achieve a majority of 50% of the votes plus one, otherwise there will be a second ballot on May 28 – the symbolic anniversary of the largest popular protest movement that shook power in 2003.
The 64 million voters also had to elect the 600 deputies who will sit in the unicameral parliament in Ankara. In 2018, in the last presidential election, the head of state won the first ballot with more than 52.5% of the vote. A waiver would already be a setback for him.
“Do not divide Turkey”
Voters are primarily divided between a vote for Islamic conservative President Erdogan, 69, and for Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, at the head of the CHP, the secular party of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.
“I say + continue + with Erdogan,” Nurcan Soyer, in contrast, swears, scarf on his head, in front of Erdogan’s polling station.
In the devastated city of Antakya, the former Antioch (south) devastated by the earthquake, Mehmet Topaloglu was one of the first to arrive: “We need change, that’s enough.” The wounds are still alive three months after the tragedy.
Kiliçdaroglu leads a united front of six parties ranging from the nationalist right to the liberal centre-left. He also received support from the pro-Kurdish party HDP, the third political force in the country.
This time Erdogan is appearing before a country battered by an economic crisis, whose currency has been devalued by half in two years and whose inflation topped 85% in the autumn.
To him, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu played the appeasement card, promising to restore the rule of law and respect for institutions that had been abused by Erdogan’s autocratic tendencies over the past decade.
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