Polling stations opened at 8am local time across Türkiye for the second round of a crucial presidential election that will decide who will take over as the country's president for the next five-year term.
It is known that more than 64 million voters have the right to vote in this election to choose Türkiye's leader, as well as the country's management and development direction in the coming years.
Türkiye begins second round of presidential election. (Photo: skynewsarabia)
The second round of elections will see a contest between two candidates: incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, head of the Justice and Development Party and representative of the People's Liminh ; while the opposition candidate is Mr. Kamal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People's Party. and represents the National Alliance, which includes six opposition parties.
Voting will last until 5 p.m. the same day, in all Turkish states, border crossings and airports. The person who receives the majority of votes in the second round of voting will be the winner and become the President of Türkiye for the next term.
Notably, this is the first time in history that Türkiye has held a second round of presidential elections, after no candidate achieved more than 50% of the votes in the first round held on May 14.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 69, led his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu by five points in the May 14 vote, but fell short of the required margin to win in the first round.
The People's Alliance, which includes President Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, also won a major victory over opposition parties and alliances in parliamentary elections two weeks ago, further strengthening Erdogan's advantage ahead of the second round of the presidential election, arguing that harmony between the President and Parliament would help maintain the country's political stability.
Meanwhile, opposition candidate Kilicdaroglu pledged to return to traditional economic policies if he wins, and return the country to a parliamentary system, abolishing the executive presidential system approved in a 2017 referendum.
The first round of voting also showed more support than expected for nationalism, a political movement that has been gaining strength in Turkey after years of fighting against Kurdish militants, a failed coup attempt in 2016 and a wave of refugees from Syria since 2011.
Tuan Nguyen (Source: VOV-Cairo)
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