what you have to know By Reuters

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turks vote on Sunday Might 28 in a presidential election runoff between the incumbent Tayyip Erdogan and his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu that can determine whether or not the president extends his rule into a 3rd decade.

Here’s a information to the runoff, the 2 candidates and the important thing points in addition to particulars on how the Might 14 parliamentary election unfolded:

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE

Turks will probably be electing a president for a five-year time period.

Within the first spherical of voting on Might 14, Erdogan received 49.5% help, falling simply wanting the bulk wanted to keep away from a runoff in a vote seen as a referendum on his autocratic rule.

Kilicdaroglu, the candidate of a six-party opposition alliance, acquired 44.9% help. Nationalist candidate Sinan Ogan got here third with 5.2% help and was eradicated. The result confounded the expectations of pollsters who had put Kilicdaroglu forward.

A referendum in 2017 narrowly authorised Erdogan’s transfer to broaden the powers of the presidency, making the president head of presidency and abolishing the put up of prime minister.

As president, Erdogan units coverage on Turkey’s economic system, safety, home and worldwide affairs.

THE CANDIDATES:

PRESIDENT TAYYIP ERDOGAN

Greater than 20 years after Erdogan and his AKP got here to energy, he hopes to increase his tenure as trendy Turkey’s longest serving ruler.

His robust efficiency on Might 14, when he managed to mobilise conservative voters, defied predictions of his political demise.http://content material.reuters.com/auth-server/content material/tag:reuters.com,2023:newsml_RC2V51A3QT5V:264472418/tag:reuters.com,2023:binary_RC2V51A3QT5V-BASEIMAGE?motion=obtain&mediatype=image&mex_media_type=image&token=Ai3nkLeW8JW5vrdAV2zqKm1yndICxtVvImvrSv5CoSEpercent3D

Victory would entrench the rule of a pacesetter who has reworked Turkey, reshaping the secular state based 100 years in the past to suit his pious imaginative and prescient whereas consolidating energy in his arms in what critics see as a march to autocracy.

This week Erdogan acquired the endorsement of hardline nationalist Sinan Ogan, boosting the incumbent and intensifying Kilicdaroglu’s problem within the runoff.

Within the parliamentary vote held on Might 14 help for Erdogan’s AKP tumbled seven factors from the 42.6% which it gained within the 2018 elections, however together with his alliance having fun with a parliamentary majority he has referred to as on voters to help him with a view to guarantee political stability.

KEMAL KILICDAROGLU

Kilicdaroglu is each the principle opposition candidate and chairman of the CHP, which was established by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk – the founder of contemporary Turkey.

He has provided voters an inclusive platform and promised a democratic reset, together with a return to a parliamentary system of presidency and independence for a judiciary that critics say Erdogan has used to crack down on dissent.

Nonetheless, his rhetoric since Might 14 has taken a hawkish flip as he reaches out to nationalist voters in his bid to overhaul Erdogan, vowing to ship again thousands and thousands refugees.

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish events have reaffirmed their help for Kilicdaroglu within the runoff with out naming him, a day after expressing anger at a deal which he reached with the far proper, anti-immigrant Victory Get together (ZP).

ZP chief Umit Ozdag declared his get together’s help for Kilicdaroglu on Wednesday in a possible enhance to the CHP chief, countering the impression of Ogan’s help for Erdogan. The ZP acquired 2.2% of votes within the parliamentary election.

WHAT IS AT STAKE?

The vote will determine not solely who leads Turkey, a NATO-member nation of 85 million, but additionally how it’s ruled, the place its economic system is headed amid a deep value of residing disaster, and the form of its international coverage.

Erdogan’s critics say his authorities has muzzled dissent, eroded rights and introduced the judicial system below its sway, a cost denied by officers.

Turkey’s economic system can also be in focus. Economists say it was Erdogan’s unorthodox coverage of low rates of interest regardless of surging costs that drove inflation to 85% final 12 months, and the lira slumping to 1 tenth of its worth towards the greenback during the last decade. Kilicdaroglu has pledged to return to extra orthodox financial coverage and to revive the independence of the Turkish central financial institution.

On international affairs, below Erdogan, Turkey has flexed navy energy within the Center East and past, cast nearer ties with Russia, and seen relations with the European Union and United States turn into more and more strained.

Turkey and the United Nations additionally brokered a deal between Moscow and Kyiv for Ukrainian wheat exports and Erdogan introduced final week the newest two-month extension.

POLLING

Greater than 64 million Turks are eligible to vote at practically 192,000 polling stations, together with greater than 6 million who had been first-time voters on Might 14. There are 3.4 million voters abroad, who voted between Might 20-24.

Polling stations in Turkey open at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and shut at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Might 28. The sale of alcohol is banned on election day.

Turnout in Turkish elections is usually excessive. On Might 14, the general turnout was 87.04% of eligible voters, with a degree of 88.9% in Turkey and 49.4% overseas.

RESULTS

Underneath election guidelines, information, forecasts and commentaries in regards to the vote are banned till 6 pm (1300 GMT) and media are solely free to report on election outcomes from 9 pm (1800 GMT).

Nonetheless, the Excessive Election Board could permit media to report on outcomes earlier and normally does. Outcomes on Sunday night are more likely to emerge sooner than they did on Might 14 given the relative simplicity of the poll paper.