Ata Alliance

• More than 60 million Turkish citizens are eligible to vote on Sunday in 87 election districts. Turkey's large diaspora of 3.5 million voters already finished voting in diplomatic missions on May 24.
• Voters ready to decide on renewing another five-year mandate for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has been ruling the country for21 years.

Illustration: BIRN/Igor Vujcic

On May 14, Erdogan's People's Allaince secured a comfortable majority in parliament and Erdogan himself received 49.5 per cent of the total vote in the presidential race.

He now aims to cement his rule for another five years by beating his main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the opposition's joint champion, in the seond round.

Victory Party Chair Ümit Özdağ said on May 23 that his party will continue discussions with Republican People's Party (CHP) leader and Nation Alliance's presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on the issue of lending support for his candidacy in the presidential election runoff.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) shaking hands with former presidential candidate of the ATA Alliance, Sinan Ogan (L) in Istanbul. 19 May 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/PRESIDENT PRESS OFFICE HANDOUT

"I will support President Erdogan in the second round and I call on our supporters to vote for People's Alliance's candidate Erdogan," Ogan said on Monday.

Sinan Oğan, the presidential candidate of the ATA Alliance who received around 5.2 percent of the votes in the first round, has announced that he will support President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the runoff elections slated for May 28.

Sinan Oğan from Ata Alliance, who received 5 percent of the votes in the first round of the presidential elections, is expected to announce his decision of who he will extend his support to in the upcoming presidential runoff on May 22.

Turkish presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the opposition Republican People's Party, CHP, addresses a press conference at CHP's headquarters in Ankara, 18 May 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/NECATI SAVAS

Opposition Nation Alliance's presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has described the May 28 runoff voting as a brand new election, calling on the people to get mobilized for bringing a change to the country, and stated he received the messages conveyed by the people to him in the first round of the polls.

Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Nation Alliance's candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu are both expected to target around 8 million citizens who chose not to vote on May 14 after failing to pass the 50 percent vote threshold in the first ballot and prompting the second round.

Sinan Oğan from the Ata Alliance who has received five percent of votes in the first round of the presidential elections says he will make his decision on who to support in the run-off vote in a few days.