World

Turkey votes in runoff election, Erdogan positioned to extend rule

  • Erdogan has the sting after profitable first spherical
  • Challenger Kilicdaroglu lagged him by practically 5 factors
  • Erdogan’s robust exhibiting defied polls, hit opposition temper
  • Nationalist vote cut up by totally different endorsements
  • Erdogan eyes third decade of rule, critics concern ‘one man regime’

ANKARA, May 28 (Reuters) – Turks had been voting on Sunday in a presidential runoff that might see Tayyip Erdogan extend his rule into a 3rd decade and stick with Turkey’s more and more authoritarian path, muscular international coverage and unorthodox financial governance.

Erdogan, 69, defied opinion polls and got here out comfortably forward with an virtually five-point lead over his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the primary spherical on May 14. But he fell simply wanting the 50% wanted to keep away from a runoff, in a race with profound penalties for Turkey itself and world geopolitics.

His unexpectedly robust exhibiting amid a deep price of residing disaster, and a win in parliamentary elections for a coalition of his conservative Islamist-rooted AK Party (AKP), the nationalist MHP and others, buoyed the veteran campaigner who says a vote for him is a vote for stability.

The election will determine not solely who leads Turkey, a NATO-member nation of 85 million, but in addition how it’s ruled, the place its financial system is headed after its forex plunged to one-tenth of its worth in opposition to the greenback in a decade, and the form of its international coverage, which has seen Turkey irk the West by cultivating ties with Russia and Gulf states.

In the town of Diyarbakir in the primarily Kurdish southeast, retiree Faruk Gecgel, 54, mentioned he voted for Erdogan as he did two weeks in the past.

“It is important for Turkey’s future that the president and parliament, where he has a majority, work together under the same roof. So I voted for Erdogan again for stability,” he mentioned.

Housewife Canan Tince, 34, mentioned she voted for Kilicdaroglu, who on May 14 obtained practically 72% help in the town – a stronghold of the primary pro-Kurdish opposition celebration.

“Enough is enough. Change is essential to overcome the economic crisis and problems that Turkey faces, so I voted for Kilicdaroglu again. We are hopeful and determined,” she mentioned.

Voting started at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and can end at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT). The end result was anticipated to start changing into clear by early night.

Kilicdaroglu, 74, is the candidate of a six-party opposition alliance, and leads the Republican People’s Party (CHP) created by Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. His camp has struggled to regain momentum after the shock of trailing Erdogan in the primary spherical.

The preliminary election confirmed larger-than-expected help for nationalism – a robust power in Turkish politics which has been hardened by years of hostilities with Kurdish militants, an tried coup in 2016 and the inflow of tens of millions of refugees from Syria since conflict started there in 2011.

Turkey is the world’s largest host of refugees, with some 5 million migrants, of whom 3.3 million are Syrians, in accordance to Interior Ministry information.

Third-place presidential candidate and hardline nationalist Sinan Ogan mentioned he endorsed Erdogan based mostly on a precept of “non-stop struggle (against) terrorism”, referring to pro-Kurdish teams. He achieved 5.17% of the vote.

Another nationalist, Umit Ozdag, chief of the anti-immigrant Victory Party (ZP), introduced a deal declaring ZP’s help for Kilicdaroglu, after he mentioned he would repatriate immigrants. The ZP received 2.2% of votes in this month’s parliamentary election.

A closely-watched survey by pollster Konda for the runoff put help for Erdogan at 52.7% and Kilicdaroglu at 47.3% after distributing undecided voters. The survey was carried out on May 20-21, earlier than Ogan and Ozdag revealed their endorsements.

Another key’s how Turkey’s Kurds, at a few fifth of the inhabitants, will vote.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) celebration endorsed Kilicdaroglu in the primary spherical however, after his lurch to the proper to win nationalist votes, it didn’t explicitly identify him and urged voters reasonably to reject Erdogan’s “one-man regime” in the runoff.

‘MORE ERDOGAN’

Turkey’s president has pulled out all of the stops on the marketing campaign path as he battles to survive his hardest political take a look at. He instructions fierce loyalty from pious Turks who as soon as felt disenfranchised in secular Turkey and his political profession has survived the failed coup and corruption scandals.

“Turkey has a longstanding democratic tradition and a longstanding nationalist tradition, and right now it’s clearly the nationalist one that’s winning out. Erdogan has fused religious and national pride, offering voters an aggressive anti-elitism,” mentioned Nicholas Danforth, Turkey historian and non-resident fellow at suppose tank ELIAMEP.

“More Erdogan means more Erdogan. People know who he is and what his vision for the country is, and it seems a lot of them approve.”

Erdogan has taken tight management of most of Turkey’s establishments and sidelined liberals and critics. Human Rights Watch, in its World Report 2022, mentioned Erdogan’s authorities has set again Turkey’s human rights file by many years.

However, if Turks do oust Erdogan, it will likely be largely as a result of they noticed their prosperity, equality and talent to meet primary wants decline, with inflation that topped 85% in October 2022.

Kilicdaroglu, a former civil servant, has pledged to roll again a lot of Erdogan’s sweeping adjustments to Turkish home, international and financial insurance policies.

He would additionally revert to the parliamentary system of governance, from Erdogan’s govt presidential system, narrowly handed in a referendum in 2017.

Additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer in Istanbul;
Writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Nick Macfie and Kim Coghill

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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