Votes still count, not least foreign votes. But both the incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his main opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu have stated that they are facing a second round in the presidential election.
– If our nation wants to see a second round, we will absolutely win a second round, Kilicdaroglu said during the election night.
“Given up towards the end”
With 97 percent of the votes counted, Erdogan has collected 49.39 percent of the votes against Kilicdaroglu’s 44.92. A disappointment for the opposition coalition, which thought it could defeat Erdogan already in the first round of elections.
– You could see how the expressions changed during the course of the evening, from hopefulness and certainty of victory to resignation towards the end of the evening, says SVT’s Tomas Thorén, who monitors the opposition’s election vigil.
– The momentum goes out of the movement and the hope they had.
Accused of fiddling with numbers
During the evening, the state news agency Anadolu presented figures that showed a large advantage for Erdogan in the election. A way to try to favor the sitting president, according to the opposition.
– It is believed that this was a way to influence the will to fight and the desire of, for example, election workers who sat late into the night to check the vote count, says Tomas Thorén.
However, no clear evidence of electoral fraud has been shown, he says.
Third man can be decisive
In addition to the two main candidates, a third candidate received a significant share of the vote. It is about the right-wing nationalist Sinan Ogan, who received around 5 percent of the vote and can now play a decisive role.
– There is a lot of speculation about which of the two main candidates he will give his support to, says Tomas Thorén.
The next round of the presidential election will be held on May 28.
Six questions about the Turkish election
