Whoever gets more than 50 percent of the votes in the first ballot becomes the new president. If no candidate can do this, there will be a runoff on May 28th. However, what gives the CHP party of challenger Kilicdaroglu such a boost in the final sprint is the fact that the 49 percent does not include the withdrawal of opposition politician Muharrem Ince, chairman of the Memleket (“Fatherland”) party. According to general estimates, most of its voters will now switch to the Kilicdaroglu opposition alliance. As a result, an absolute majority for the challenger in the first ballot is within reach – a sensation.
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However, one shouldn’t forget the 3.4 million Turks abroad who were eligible to vote and who were able to cast their votes in their country’s diplomatic missions by Tuesday evening. According to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, voter turnout in this group is quite high at around 53 percent; however, the majority of Turks living in Germany have always voted for Erdogan.