Türkiye to go to its most critical elections

Some 60 million Turks will cast their votes on May 14 to elect their 13th president and the 600-seat parliament in an election that many describe as the most critical one not only for Türkiye but also for the wider region.

"As of now, all measures for healthy and secure elections have been taken by the Supreme Election Board [YSK] and its election committees in the provinces and districts," YSK head Ahmet Yener told the journalists on May 12.

"May 14 is a fest for democracy. We suggest all our citizens eligible to vote to go and cast their votes in a safe way," Yener said. "I hope we will announce the inconclusive results on the same day as in the previous polls."

According to the YSK's figures, 60,697,843 people in Türkiye are eligible to vote, of which 4.9 million are first-time voters. Some 1.8 million Turks have already voted abroad. Their votes will be counted with the rest of the votes after the polls will be closed late afternoon on May 14.

The electors will vote twice on Sunday's polls. They will elect the 13th president of Türkiye and the 600-seat parliament. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will try to keep his office against two opposition contenders, Nation Alliance's Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Ata Alliance's Sinan Oğan.

To be elected in the first round, one of the contenders has to secure at least 50 percent plus one vote. Otherwise, Turks will vote once again on May 28 to elect one of the two candidates that received the most votes in the first round.

Erdoğan was elected as the president in 2018 following the constitutional amendment that replaced the parliamentary system with the executive-presidential model. His main rival is Kılıçdaroğlu, the chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the joint...