Even before the start of the elections in Turkey, Turkish voters abroad delivered a record. According to the electoral commission, more than 53 percent of the three and a half million eligible voters abroad cast their votes, more than two percentage points more than in 2018.
In Turkey itself, more than 80 percent of citizens are expected to vote. According to experts, a high voter turnout should benefit the opposition.
The Turkish foreign voters in 73 countries were able to cast their votes between April 27 and May 9. Their ballots arrived in Ankara on Friday, where they will be kept under the supervision of representatives of all parties until Sunday’s count.
2.3
percent of all eligible voters live in Germany.
At special polling stations at Turkey’s international airports and borders, expatriate Turks can still vote until domestic polling stations close at 5 p.m. local time on Sunday, which could increase their turnout even further.
High support for Erdoğan in Germany
With a good 3.4 million, those eligible to vote abroad make up around 4.8 percent of all Turkish voters. The largest group lives in Germany, where 1.5 million Turkish citizens are eligible to vote – 2.3 percent of all eligible voters.
In past elections, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan achieved better results from voters in Germany than in Turkey. In the last presidential election five years ago, he got 64.8 percent in Germany, significantly more than Turkey’s overall result of 52.6 percent.
In absolute numbers, however, this difference was only 79,000 votes – not enough to decisively influence the presidential election.
This deviation is also at least partially offset by the votes of foreign voters in countries with large Kurdish populations, who vote in majority for the opposition. The votes from abroad could have more influence on the distribution of seats in parliament because of the counting process.
