More than 3 million citizens living abroad have started voting in a hotly contested poll.
About 3.4 million Turkish citizens living abroad have started national elections. The election will determine whether President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will continue to rule Turkey after his 20 years in power.
Overseas voting began on Thursday amid concerns over President Erdogan’s health after election rallies on Wednesday and Thursday were forced to be called off.
However, the 69-year-old leader was due to attend Thursday’s ceremony via a video link marking the opening of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. Turkey’s health minister also said Erdogan’s condition was improving.
“I was with him this morning. He is in good health,” Fahrettin Koca, a trained doctor, said Thursday. “The effects of his gastrointestinal infection have diminished. He will continue with his schedule.”
The largest delegation of overseas voters includes 400,000 Turks from France and 1.5 million Turks from Germany, who will be able to vote in Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections until May 9. . Turkey’s own vote will not take place until his May 14th.
The latest polls in Turkey show Erdogan’s main challenger and center-left opposition leader Kemal Kirikdaroglu with a slight lead.
Erdogan was Turkey’s prime minister from March 2003 to August 2014 and has been president since. He has been criticized for his increasingly authoritarian rule and handling of the economy and rampant inflation in recent years, as well as the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey in February.
In Berlin, voter Fatma, who declined to give his last name, said he supported the current president.
“Erdogan is strong. We support him,” she told the Associated Press.
Her comments were echoed by 39-year-old Ozlem Dinc from Paris, who expressed his full support for Erdogan.
“I sincerely hope that he will regain power and conquer the whole world,” she said.
Others were critical of the longtime president and the changes he made to Turkey’s political system.
“First we have to change the president, then we have to change the system,” said Sema Jude, a voter in Paris. “Turkey’s presidential system is not democratic, it’s more like a dictatorship.”
Cinar Negatir agreed, but there are other reasons as well. “I’m in favor of changing the president because the economy is at zero percent,” he said. “That’s why we vote to change the president.”
Up to 300 people lined up outside the Turkish consulate in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt to vote. Supporters of the president and supporters of the opposition parties lined up to exchange opinions, creating a calm atmosphere.
The second round of the two presidential candidates will take place on May 28th unless the May 14th poll results in a clear winner with over 50% of the vote. For the runoff ballot, overseas voting he will take place May 20-24.