Joy and a party atmosphere at the headquarters of the AK party in Ankara on the evening of the presidential election – but now a runoff will probably follow. Image: imago / Achille Abboud
Analyse
A good 64 million Turkish citizens who are eligible to vote at home and abroad voted on a new parliament and a new president on Sunday – and the result was close. None of the candidates were able to clear the 50 percent hurdle. The Turkish election thriller is apparently entering the second round. Say: There is a runoff.
Watson summarizes for you in six points what happened on election night and how things will continue now.
The election result
With around 95 percent of the ballot boxes counted in Germany and around 37 percent abroad, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had 49.49 percent of the votes, Ahmet Yener, head of the electoral authority in Ankara, told the dpa news agency on Monday morning.
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Opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu came to 44.79 percent. Both missed the absolute majority of 50 percent and have to go to a runoff on May 28th.
Apparently a shock for Erdoğan. Its decades-long position of power is beginning to crumble.
Fateful choice for Erdoğan
After 20 years in power, Turkish President Erdoğan is expected to face a runoff election for the first time. Since November 2002 he has governed the country with the Islamic conservative AKP. At that time, Erdoğan promised to democratize Turkey. But he obviously took a different course.
Experts fear that the NATO country could become even more autocratic in the next five years under President Erdoğan. Therefore, the choice is considered trend-setting.
Political scientist Ismail Küpeli praises the courage of the people in Turkey in their fight for democracy and human rights. At the University of Cologne he deals with nationalism, racism and anti-Semitism.
He is apparently enthusiastic about how the Turks are opting for a democratic path despite “state repression and right-wing propaganda”. And the opposition could pave the way for this.
Kılıçdaroglu remains optimistic
The 74-year-old Kılıçdaroğlu is a candidate for a broad alliance of six parties. The leader of the centre-left, pro-secular Republican People’s Party CHP promises a return to a parliamentary system, democracy and the rule of law.
The election is also being watched closely internationally. A new government would have an impact on conflicts in the region, such as the war in Syria, but also on relations with the EU and Germany.
Opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is optimistic about the possible runoff against Erdoğan. Bild: IMAGO/UPI Photo / Alp Eren Kaya
Opposition candidate Kılıçdaroğlu has expressed optimism about winning a possible runoff election in two weeks. If the results of the first ballot make a run-off election necessary, “we will definitely win the second round,” Kılıçdaroğlu told journalists. “The will to change in society is higher than 50 percent,” he says confidently.
Ultranationalist outsider
Sinan Oğan from the ultra-nationalist Ata Alliance came in far behind in third place with around 5.3 percent. The outsider could still play an important role. In the run-off election it will be important which recommendation he makes beforehand.
Sinan Oğan submits his ballot.Picture: IMAGO/Depo Photos
Erdoğan’s lead in parliamentary elections
The parliamentary elections also took place in Turkey and there are signs of a head start for Erdoğan and his allies.
The electoral authorities have not yet announced the results of the parliamentary elections. However, it is becoming apparent that Erdoğan’s government alliance was able to defend its majority. Since the introduction of a presidential system in 2018, the President has had far-reaching powers the parliament, with its 600 members, is weakened.
allegations of electoral manipulation
Apparently, electoral manipulation took place during the elections. That’s what a Kurdish organization claims. For example, in many places it was reported that ballot papers had already been stamped when they were distributed, explains Civaka Azad from the Kurdish Center for Public Relations.
A woman votes at a polling station. There is said to have been election rigging in Turkey. Image: AP/Francis Seco
Invalid notes were also distributed accordingly. In addition, according to Azad, several thousand people were prevented from voting by being named as poll workers without their knowledge or because they were not given a ballot because their names were allegedly not on the lists.
In Turkey, President Erdoğan is taking massive action against the Kurdish opposition, such as the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). The Turkish president is also waging a bitter fight against the Kurdish forces in northern Syria. According to Azad, the police confiscated votes in the predominantly Kurdish city of Agirî.
There have also been numerous violations of the 24-hour “propaganda ban” in force in Turkey – especially by the governing party AKP and its coalition partner MHP. For example, voters received SMS messages from candidates, and gifts or advertising were distributed in front of the polling stations.
In addition, there is a high military and police presence – especially in predominantly Kurdish provinces. According to election observers, this contributed to severe intimidation in society, Azad explains.
Images and videos of minor violent clashes in polling stations, mostly from AKP supporters, were distributed on the Internet.
The Greens politician Alev Korun from Austria also shares a case of election fraud on Twitter. She tweeted the tweet from opposition politician Oğuz Ka to Salıcı, a member of the social democratic CHP. Allegedly, the ballot box clerk Fettullah Işıkakdoğan was doused with boiling water and beaten for resisting voter fraud.
These allegations of voter fraud cannot be independently verified.
In summary, the so-called “fate elections” have so far been much more peaceful than feared, it is said. Nevertheless, the mood is likely to remain tense in the coming days until the final election result is known.
(With material from dpa/afp)
