“Turkish Presidential Election: Erdogan Faces Serious Threat from Kilicdaroglu and Alleged Russian Meddling”

The 69-year-old Erdogan has been in power in Turkey for 20 years, but this time his position is seriously threatened. In the presidential election, a fierce fight is expected between Erdogan and the joint candidate nominated by the opposition, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Opinion polls show that Erdogan’s rival has a slight lead and Kilicdaroglu could collect the 50% of the vote needed to avoid a runoff.

Since a third candidate, Sinan Ogan, is also running for the presidency and could get a few percent of the vote, it is possible that neither Erdogan nor Kilicdaroglu will get 50% of the vote in the first round. In that case, the two strongest candidates will advance to the second round, which will take place on May 28.

The opposition’s joint candidate Kilicdaroglu’s chances of victory increased shortly before the election, as the fourth presidential candidate, Muharem Ince, withdrew from the race this week after an intense smear campaign. Polls show that most of Indje’s supporters are likely to vote for Kilicdaroglu.

There have been reports of Russian meddling in the elections, and they have also been expressed by Kilicdaroglu, who claims that Moscow is spreading false information about him.

The Kremlin has denied the accusations, but Erdogan has defended the Kremlin’s owner, Vladimir Putin.

At the same time as the presidential elections, Turkish parliamentary elections will be held, in which 600 members are to be elected.

Both the next president and members of the new term of parliament will be chosen by 64 million eligible Turks.

Polling stations in Turkey will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Turkey is in the same time zone as Latvia), but the first results could become known later in the evening.

CONTEXT:

On May 14, both presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Turkey. The current head of state, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in power in Turkey since 2003, is also running for the position of president. The opposition sharply criticizes him for restricting democracy and persecuting political opponents.

To try to defeat Erdogan, the main opposition parties have agreed to support a joint presidential candidate: Kemal Kilicdaroglu, 74, who is the leader of the Republican People’s Party. He promises to promote democracy in Turkey and strengthen ties with the West.

If none of the candidates gets at least 50% of the votes in the first round of the presidential election, a second round will be held two weeks later, on May 28.

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