Presidential and parliamentary elections are underway across Turkey as millions of people of all ages headed to the polls to vote for the country’s future president in a tight race.
The current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces the biggest political challenge of his two-decade rule in Turkey according to political experts, Aljazeera reported.
Turkey’s Anatoly news agency reported the polls opened at 8:00 am across Turkey, as millions of people will vote for their president and head of the parliament.
It is reported that More than 64 million eligible voters will cast their ballots to elect both a president and parliament for a five-year term.
More than 64.1 million people registered to vote for the elections, of which 1.76 million people have already cast ballots abroad, according to sources.
Since becoming the president, Erdogan established a powerful position in Turkey’s political system, and barely allowed the opposition parties to challenge him to date.
In July 2018, a month after Erdogan won the presidential election, Turkey transitioned from a parliamentary to a presidential system, which granted the president extra power to rule the country. The post of prime minister was abolished and the president also became the head of government.
A National Alliance, a coalition of six opposition parties led by Kemal Kilicdaroglu is seen as a major threat to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in power for the past two decades.
The chairman of the German Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, Michael Roth, says the elections in Turkey are “probably the last chance” for the opposition to democratically remove President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power after two decades.
Latest opinion surveys show Kilicdaroglu leading Erdogan by just a few points, but unable to break the 50% threshold to win the election outright on Sunday. If neither candidate can receive above 50% support, a runoff would be held two weeks later on May 28.
