Turks cast their vote in a run-off of crucial presidential election

Turks go to the polls on Sunday to vote, in a run-off from an important presidential election, on whether or not current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan should continue to remain in power after twenty years at the helm.

Erdogan’s rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who is backed by a broad opposition coalition, described the vote as a referendum on Turkey’s future path.

Erdogan, the frontrunner, promises a new era in which Turkey will unite in its centenary.

However, there is a pressing crisis of high inflation rates, as well as a crisis of the high cost of living faced by the Turks.

Polling stations open their doors to voters at eight o’clock in the morning local time (five o’clock in the morning GMT), while they close at five o’clock in the evening local time (two o’clock in the evening GMT).

And Turks voted abroad ended around the world.

The first round of the elections witnessed a historic turnout of 88.8 percent, and Erdogan took the lead, ahead of Kilicdaroglu by about 2.5 million votes.

Both contenders have their eyes on the eight million who did not vote in the first round but might do so this time around.

Before going to the decisive round, Kilicdaroglu accused his rival of obstructing his text messages to the voters, while Erdogan’s messages to his voters continue.

And the Turkish opposition parties use an army of volunteers that they deploy in polling stations across the country to ensure that there is no fraud in the election process.

International observers spoke of a state of disparity after the first round, but no one spoke of violations in the voting process that would have changed the outcome.

On the last day of his election campaign, Kılıçdaroğlu promised a different style of presidency, saying: “I have no desire to live in palaces. I will live like you, modestly…and I will work to solve your problems.”

Kilicdar refers his words to the luxurious palace on the outskirts of the capital, Ankara, to which Erdogan moved after he turned from prime minister to president of the country in 2014.

After a failed coup attempt in 2016, Erdogan expanded his powers, arresting tens of thousands of people and controlling the media.

In this light, his visit on Saturday to the tomb of a prime minister who was executed by the military in the wake of a coup in 1960 was fraught with symbolism.

Erdogan declared that “the era of coups and military councils is over,” attributing Turkey’s current stability to his regime.

However, Türkiye is very polarized. Where President Erdogan relies on the support of religious conservatives and nationalists, while the supporters of his opponent, Kilicdaroglu, are mainly secular, although there are also many nationalists among them.

For days, the rivals traded accusations; Kilicdaroglu accused his rival Erdogan of cowardice and fear of fair elections, and in return Erdogan said that his rival was on the side of the “terrorists”, referring to the Kurdish militants.

After days of inflammatory rhetoric regarding the deportation of millions of Syrian refugees, the opposition candidate returned to talking about Turkey’s first problem, which is the economic crisis, especially its impact on poor families.

On the podium where Kilicdaroglu was addressing his constituents, a 59-year-old woman, accompanied by her grandson, ascended to say that her monthly salary of five thousand lira ($250) could not suffice her in light of the four thousand lira rent for the house in which she lives. (200).

Perhaps this incident was agreed upon in advance, but this is the case in all of Turkey. As inflation rates reached about 44 percent, while salaries and support provided by the state failed to keep pace with the high cost of living.

Economists say Erdogan’s policy of lowering interest rates rather than raising them has made the situation worse.

The Turkish lira recorded its lowest levels, demand for hard currency increased, and the central bank’s foreign currency reserves fell to their lowest level since 2002.

Regardless of who wins Sunday’s vote, the Turkish parliament is still in the grip of Erdogan’s Islamic-referenced Justice and Development Party as well as his far-right nationalist ally, Devlet Bahceli’s Nationalist Movement Party.

The Justice and Development Party includes the youngest member of the Turkish Parliament – Zahra Nur Aydemir, who is only 24 years old, and she arrived in Parliament on the eve of the vote in the presidential elections.

Zahra Nour says that Erdogan, if he wins, will lay the foundations for a centenary in which Turkey will become a world superpower.