Turkey to hold presidential runoff on May 28

The first round of voting ended with no candidate able to clear the required 50% threshold, but incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the lead, said Ahmet Yener, head of the Supreme Election Council, citing unofficial results, according to the Anadolu Agency.

Voter turnout in Sunday’s elections was 88.92%, with turnout from Turkish citizens abroad at 52.69%, Yener said.

Data entry continues for 35,874 ballots cast abroad, he noted.

Erdogan, joint candidate for the People’s Alliance, and his closest competitor Kemal Kilicdaroglu, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) chair and joint candidate for the six-party opposition Nation Alliance, will face off in the second round.

Erdogan finished the first round with 49.51% of the vote, with Kilicdaroglu second at 44.88%, Yener said.

Sinan Ogan of the ATA (Ancestral) Alliance got 5.17%, while Muharrem Ince, who withdrew from the presidential race late last week after ballots had already been printed, got 0.44%, Yener added.

MNA/PR