Turkey: Polls open in Turkish election runoff as Erdoğan desires to hold power
By Ahmad Hadizat Omayoza, Mamos Nigeria
Recep Tayyip Erdoan hopes to overcome a shaky challenge from rival Kemal Klçdarolu in an unprecedented second round of the presidential election that is taking place in Turkey.
In the primary round this month, Erdoğan overturned expectations and many surveyors’ forecasts by outpacing the competition with 49.5% of the vote, as his opponent came in just short of the win with 44.5%. The parliamentary vote, in which Erdoan’s coalition won with a comfortable majority, caused an additional upset.
After the first-round votes were tallied, a reenergized and exuberant Erdoan appeared on the balcony of the AKP headquarters in Ankara and sang one of his campaign songs to his supporters.
After a first-round participation record, Erdoan urged his supporters not to relax at a rally in Istanbul on Saturday.
Are we going to vote tomorrow? Will we vote until the wee hours of the morning?” he asked a cheering group.
Kılıçdaroğlu has offered citizens an opportunity to end Erdoğan’s twenty years in power and to keep Turkey’s longest-serving pioneer from broadening his standard into a third 10 years. The 69-year-old Erdoan has overhauled Turkey’s political system and reshaped it in his own image during his time as president and prime minister. He introduced a presidential system, concentrated power around his office, and jailed opponents.
After at first zeroing in on how his nomination offered citizens an opportunity to switch the progressions presented by Erdoğan, including commitments of a re-visitation of parliamentary vote based system and messages of social consideration, Kılıçdaroğlu’s mission turned solidly to one side ahead of the overflow.
The two up-and-comers have looked to bridle support from citizens who picked the third-place official applicant, the ultranationalist Sinan Oğan of the Triumph party, who acquired generally 5% of the official vote in the principal round.
Oan declared his support for Erdoan, whereas Victory party leader Ümit zda backed Klçdarolu, asserting that the opposition leader was more likely to fulfill his pledge to deport millions of refugees and tighten immigration controls.
In the days leading up to the runoff, Klçdarolu’s messages have largely focused on anti-immigrant sentiment. He has also signed an agreement with Zda that includes promises that take aim at Kurdish voters in eastern Turkey, who he relied on for support in the first round.
