Turkiye goes to vote again in poll runoff

ANKARA — Voters in Turkiye returned to the polls on Sunday to decide whether the country's longtime leader President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stretches his rule into a third decade or is unseated by a challenger.

Erdogan, who has been at Turkiye's helm for 20 years, was favored to win a new five-year term in the second-round runoff after coming just short of an outright victory in the first round on May 14.

The longtime leader who turned his country into a geopolitical player finished four percentage points ahead of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the candidate of a six-party alliance and leader of Turkiye's center-left main opposition party. Erdogan's performance came despite inflation and the effects of a devastating earthquake three months ago.

Kilicdaroglu, 74, had described the runoff as a referendum on the country's future.

More than 64 million people were eligible to cast ballots. The polls opened at 8 am. Turkiye does not have exit polls, and unofficial results were expected about at 9 pm, voting closed at 5 pm.

The final decision could have implications far beyond Ankara because Turkiye stands at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and it plays a key role in NATO.

Turkiye vetoed Sweden's application to join the alliance and bought Russian missile-defense systems, which prompted the United States to oust Turkiye from a US-led fighter jet project. Erdogan's government helped broker a crucial deal that allowed Ukrainian grain shipments and averted a global food crisis.

In the election on May 14, 87 percent of the electorate cast ballots, and strong participation was expected again on Sunday.

If Erdogan, 69, wins he could remain in power until 2028. After three stints as prime minister and two as president, the leader who heads the conservative Justice and Development Party, or AKP, is already Ankara's longest-serving leader.

The May 14 election was the first that Erdogan did not win outright.

In an effort to woo voters hit hard by inflation, he has increased wages and pensions and subsidized electricity and gas bills, while showcasing Turkiye's homegrown defense industry and infrastructure projects. He also centered his reelection campaign on a promise to rebuild quake-stricken areas, including building 319,000 homes within the year. Many see him as a source of stability.

Kilicdaroglu is a former public servant who has led the Republican People's Party since 2010. He campaigned on a promise to restore the economy by reverting to more conventional policies and to improve ties with the West.

Issue of refugees

In a frantic effort to reach out to voters in the runoff, Kilicdaroglu vowed to repatriate refugees.

Many in Turkiye regard Syrian refugees who have been under Turkiye's temporary protection after fleeing the war in neighboring Syria as a burden on the country, and their repatriation became a key issue in the election.

Erdogan received the endorsement of the third-place candidate Sinan Ogan, a nationalist who garnered 5.2 percent of the votes and was eliminated from the race. A staunchly anti-migrant party that had supported Ogan's candidacy announced it would back Kilicdaroglu.

Erdogan's AKP and its allies retained a majority of seats in parliament following a legislative election that was also held on May 14. Parliamentary elections were not repeated on Sunday.

Agencies - Xinhua