Türkiye is gearing up for a momentous election set to take place on Sunday, May 14.
On the presidential ballot, voters will choose between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is seeking re-election, main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, and Sinan Oğan.
Meanwhile, 24 political parties and 151 independent candidates will be vying for seats in the 600-member Turkish Parliament.
Türkiye is getting ready to vote in critical presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s public support is put to the test against the backdrop of a severe economic crisis.
A six-party main opposition alliance has picked Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the centre-left Republican People’s Party (CHP), as its candidate.
Meanwhile, Erdoğan’s Justice and Development (AK) Party added two conservative parties to its alliance in addition to its two long-term nationalist partners, pulling the coalition further to the far right.
Amid an economic crisis, and months after earthquakes killed more than 50,000 people and displaced millions more, the parliamentary and presidential votes will decide who leads the country of nearly 85 million and where it heads next.
In the presidential election, held every five years, any candidate who wins more than 50% of votes in the first round is elected president.
If no one secures a majority, the election goes to a runoff – due on 28 May – between the two leading candidates.
In the parliamentary elections, held concurrently, the number of seats a party wins in Türkiye’s 600-member parliament is directly proportional to the number of votes it receives, providing it gets – alone or as part of an alliance – at least 7% of the national vote.
Polling stations will open to Türkiye’s 61 million voters at 8am local time on Sunday May 14 and close at 5pm, with results expected in the evening.
An estimated 3 million voters resident abroad will have cast their ballots in advance.
Early voting in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) at three voting stations set up in the country’s three major cities ended on Tuesday, May 9.
Voter turnout stood at 58 per cent.