The counting of votes for the presidential elections in Turkey is underway, from which a decisive advantage has not yet emerged, as expected: with just over a third of the votes counted, outgoing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is ahead by almost 53 percent, while his main opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu is just over 41 percent. Erdogan’s advantage still needs to be taken with some caution: the counting of votes has started from areas of Turkey traditionally favorable to him, and Kilicdaroglu is expected to catch up as the count goes on.
To be elected in the first round, a candidate for president must obtain at least 50 percent of the votes: otherwise the runoff will take place on 28 May. The final figure on the turnout has not yet been released, but it is expected to be very high, probably even higher than the 86 percent of the previous elections in 2018.
In Turkey these are the most uncertain elections for years, and for this reason they are watched with particular attention by the whole world: for the first time Erdogan, who has been in government for about twenty years, first as prime minister and then as president for two consecutive terms, has concrete chances of losing. In recent years Erdogan has transformed Turkey into an increasingly less democratic country, and his defeat would be news of enormous importance also for the immediate future of the Middle East, a region in which Erdogan’s Turkey has sought to impose considerable influence.
– Read also: Is Erdoğan a dictator?
His main opponent, Kilicdaroglu, is the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the main opposition party: he was chosen as the only candidate by six opposition parties, meeting in what has been called the “Table of Six ”. Kilicdaroglu is 74 years old, has been the head of the CHP for almost 15 years and is in many respects the opposite of Erdogan.
Although not particularly charismatic, he is a very popular politician and universally known for his honesty and frugality, who over the years has been able to obtain some important electoral victories despite the progressive and increasingly oppressive authoritarianism of Erdogan, which he has gradually reduced and threatened the independence of the Turkish media, judiciary and many other institutions. According to the polls carried out so far, Kilicdaroglu could approach the threshold of 50 per cent of the votes, while the two minor candidates will not they should exceed 5 percent.
– Read also: Who is Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan’s biggest opponent
In Turkey, the president has a very influential role, especially after the constitutional reform introduced during Erdogan’s government in 2017. The reform transformed the country from a parliamentary republic to a presidential one, giving the president many more powers and abolishing the office of prime minister : with the new system the president is elected directly by the population. To be able to apply must be a Turkish citizen, be at least 40 years old and hold a university degree, as well as being nominated by parties that have obtained at least 5 percent of the vote in previous elections or have at least 20 seats in parliament. The mandate lasts five years.