File image.
On May 14 morning, polls opened in Turkey’s highly-anticipated presidential and parliamentary elections that could bring an end to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 20-year rule.
A total of 191,885 ballot boxes have been set up for voters in the country. More than 64.1 million people are registered to vote, including over 1.76 million who already cast their ballots abroad and 4.9 million first-time voters.
Voters will choose between Erdogan, who is seeking reelection, main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, and far-right candidate Sinan Ogan.
The elections pose a serious test to Erdogan, who has been facing much criticism over the currency and debt crisis that developed during his rule and his response to the devastating February 6 earthquake that claimed the lives of more than 50,000 people.
Erdogan is mainly running against Kilicdaroglu, who represents an election coalition of six opposition parties. For the first time, Turkey’s factious opposition has coalesced around a single candidate.
Under the rule of Erdogan, Ankara supported efforts to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria, sparking a war that pushed millions of refugees to Turkey and allowed Kurdish forces affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party to establish a de-facto state right on the country’s border.
The Syrian war, coupled with growing economic and security challenges, pushed Turkey closer to both Russia and Iran, and away from the United States and other NATO allies.
Erdogan adopted a more balanced foreign policy in recent years. Ankara refused to join sanctions against Russia after the start of the special military operation in Ukraine last year and launching talks to normalize relations with Damascus. At the same time, it ended feuds with Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and froze its military intervention in Libya.
On the other side, Kilicdaroglu promised to solve the challenges caused by the Syrian war, including the refugee crisis, by working with Damascus. He is also looking to bring Turkey closer to its Western allies, even supporting the expansion of NATO, which could mean the end of the partnership with Russia and Iran.
After casting his vote in Istanbul, Erdogan told reporters: “We pray to God for a better future for our country, our nation, and Turkish democracy. It is very important for all of our voters to cast their votes until 17.00 in the evening without any worries for demonstrating the strength of Turkish democracy.”
Meanwhile, after voting in Ankara, Kilicdaroglu said: “We all missed democracy, being together and embracing so much. Hopefully, from now on you will see spring will come to this country and it will always continue.”
A candidate must win over 50% of the vote in the first round in order to be elected. Otherwise Turkey will head to a second round on May 28.
In the months leading to the elections, polls showed Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu exchanging the lead with a few points difference.
The elections in Turkey could reshape the regional and international political scene. Regardless of the result, Ankara is likely heading to very tense days as neither side is likely to accept defeat without a fight. Protests and violence could break out in the country.
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Why does he have an onion on his head
Looks like garlic to me.
It’s probably supposed to be a sultan hat thing.
Protection against vampire.
Keeping your evil mama away for
Turkish diapers. Coz you all are shitheads 😃
🖕🥒💩😉 go and jump 🦘
You can always ask your mom 😉 fake Attila
🖕😉you still lurk in every comment section anuslover? 🖕🖕
Let me know when you have the answer.
because kemal attachicken
Kemal was evil
Would you also portray Putin with the headgear of Ivan the Terrible? Low. Still, it’s a way of confessing to being a chauvinist pig. Anyway, the “refugee crisis” will solve itself bc Syrians are confronted with enormous hostility (discrimination) so that already massive amounts are leaving Turkey. If some could return to Syria, they perhaps would though.
Well if Putin builds a new palace to rule from and recreates the russian tzar empire and greek eastern roman empire guards talkin about all eastern christians should be one again. Then you can put the headgear of a russian or eastern roman emperor on his head. But Putin is neither fond of tzarist russians nor of communists russians. He is just a business man who feels wronged by the west and wants some payback.
Sozialist forces fought in ukraine under saharchenko and tzarist forces under strelko. Both got zero support by putin cause he did not want them to succeed.
Strelko is ultranationalist.
It will happen when the marbled king comes back.
Defacto Semite Asians disagree.
#faggot
Asians are not Semite and the Mongols only are Japhethite.
Kilicdaroglu said: “We all missed democracy”
Translation: “We all must obey and serve America as we did before Erdogan”
That’s why I hope Erdogan wins. Although probably not, the Empire really wants him removed…
He’s untouchable … Next
Erdogan will win only if his friend Raisi and the Qataris help him on that.
Qatar yes .but not terrorist raisi re
These three plus the Muslim Brotherhood are bffs.
Lol… the empire of deception wants Errdoghan removed? Are you kidding? As if he’s not a Zio puppet…?
Is he? He spoke against Israel many times.
Just like other arab leaders he talks bad about israel in the front and is friends with them in the back. It is all show cause no muslim leader can be openly friends with israel without getting problems with their people.
Israel supported Serbia during the wars though.
Never heard of it. Bernard Henry Levy was an adviser to the islamist Izadbegovic in Bosnia, Albright was delighted to bomb serbia cause of what some quislings did to an ancestor of her and she wanted payback. And Soros funded and created the otpor revolution. Oh and ruder finn and others wer instrumental to paint the serbs as the devil. So if Israel supported Serbia then it seem Jews outside of it did not know about it.
Levy is French and Soros is American. I am saying about the Israelis like Ariel Sharon.
sharon supported serbia? are you drugged or just retarded?
He is a hasbarat.
He is not Arab, and no Arab leader dares to talk bad about Israel any more.
I dislike both candidates for different reasons. This is basically an election between a Leo-Lib shill and an economically illiterate lunatic; Turkey is screwed regardless of who wins.
^says the screwed cainanite byatch
#TurkiyeWon
#attachickenlost
Canaanites are the Israelis/Palestinians and Edomites are the Jordanians you moron.
Why is the headline saying Highly intercepted?
Erdoggy dog the infameous shitty islamist has to go … huge blow to islamic (sunni) terrorism (ie muslim brotherhood, islamic state terror group, etc ) … and to some extent it will also strike a blow against zionism as a sponsor of sunni islamic terrorism … I’m sorry I misled you just now, both sides are controlled by zionists 😉
Yes, the Islamic radicals, however, secularists like Kemal, Nasser and Saddam did many crimes.
So now the pro russians hope that erdogan wins of all people? The same erdogan that – claims the crime tartars should own crimea instead of russia – that help azerbeydhan kill christian armenians in karabakh – that are behind hts and other extremists in syria – that were in support of the tscheschen group of basaiev who wanted to make the russian caucasus an islamic kalifat.
I support russia but only so far. Putins support for erdogan was a mistake from the very first moment.
I totally agree with you, however, the Kemalists will be against the Russians, the Greeks, the Serbs and the Armenians. Kemalists will play the card of the US. Erdogan and the radical Islamists know that if they cross the line it will be their end.
For example, the Europeans can attack the Islamist North Africans, the Slavs can attack the Islamist Turco-Persians and the Indians can attack the Islamists of Pakistan and Bangladesh.