By Reuters
Turkey appeared headed for a runoff presidential election with the parties of Tayyip Erdogan and opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu each claiming the lead but sources in both camps admitting they may not clear the 50 percent threshold to win outright.
Early results on Sunday put Erdogan comfortably ahead, but as the count continued his advantage eroded as expected. A runoff on May 28 appeared likely, which would delay a verdict on the president's two decades in power.
Opinion polls before the election had given Kilicdaroglu, who heads a six-party alliance, a slight lead, and two polls on Friday even showed him above the 50 percent threshold. However most had suggested a tight margin.
Both sides dismissed the other side's count, with no official result announced.
Erdogan said on Sunday hurrying to announce election results while the counting goes on would mean stealing people's will, while Kilicdaroglu warned election authorities to log all nationwide results.
A senior official from the opposition alliance said: "it seems there will be no winner in the first round. But, our data indicates Kilicdaroglu will lead."
Another senior opposition official told Reuters Erdogan's party was raising objections against ballots, delaying full results. "So far they are doing everything in their power to delay the process," he said.
Citing figures from state-owned agency Anadolu, Turkish media said that with almost 80.5 percent of ballot boxes counted, Erdogan was on 50.43 percent and Kilicdaroglu on 43.77 percent, but the opposition suggested results were being published in an order that artificially boosted Erdogan's tally.
CHANGE OR CONTINUITY
Sunday's vote is one of the most consequential elections in the country's 100-year history, a contest that could end Erdogan's imperious 20-year rule and reverberate well beyond Turkey's borders.
The presidential vote will decide not only who leads Turkey, a NATO-member country of 85 million, but also how it is governed, where its economy is headed amid a deep cost of living crisis, and the shape of its foreign policy.
In Ankara supporters of both sides celebrated.
A crowd outside the headquarters of Erdogan's AK Party (AKP) held up posters of Erdogan as they sang songs and danced.
"I have been here since noon to celebrate our victory. This is our day," said Davut, 25, raising Erdogan's flag at AKP headquarters.
At the headquarters of Kilicdaroglu's CHP party around a thousand people had gathered, waving flags of Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and playing drums.
At the party's Istanbul office, Nurten, 62, a university lecturer said: "We knew that the official news agency of the state would announce a huge lead over our alliance. I think the results are in favor of Kilicdaroglu and it will end in the first round."
The elections, which are also for parliament, are being intently watched in Western capitals, the Middle East, NATO and Moscow.
A defeat for Erdogan, one of President Vladimir Putin's most important allies, will likely unnerve the Kremlin but comfort the Biden administration, as well as many European and Middle Eastern leaders who had troubled relations with Erdogan.
Turkey's longest-serving leader has turned the NATO member and Europe's second largest country into a global player, modernized it through megaprojects such as new bridges, hospitals and airports, and built a military industry sought by foreign states.
But his volatile economic policy of low interest rates, which set off a spiralling cost of living crisis and inflation, left him prey to voters' anger. His government's slow response to a devastating earthquake in southeast Turkey that killed 50,000 people added to voters' dismay.
Kilicdaroglu has pledged to set Turkey on a new course by reviving democracy after years of state repression, returning to orthodox economic policies, empowering institutions who lost autonomy under Erdogan's tight grasp and rebuilding frail ties with the West.
Thousands of political prisoners and activists could be released if the opposition prevails.
POLARISED POLITICS
"I see these elections as a choice between democracy and dictatorship," said Ahmet Kalkan, 64, as he voted in Istanbul for Kilicdaroglu, echoing critics who fear Erdogan will govern ever more autocratically if he wins.
"I chose democracy and I hope that my country chooses democracy," said Kalkan, a retired health sector worker.
Erdogan, 69, is a veteran of a dozen election victories, and says he respects democracy and denies being a dictator.
Illustrating how the president still commands support, Mehmet Akif Kahraman, also voting in Istanbul, said Erdogan still represented the future even after two decades in power.
"God willing, Turkey will be a world leader," he said.
The parliamentary vote is a race between the People's Alliance comprising Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party (AKP) and the nationalist MHP and others, and Kilicdaroglu's Nation Alliance formed of six opposition parties, including his secularist Republican People's Party (CHP), established by Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
With almost 70 percent of ballot boxes counted, HaberTurk put Erdogan's alliance on 51.43 percent and the opposition alliance on 33.93 percent in the parliamentary vote.
Erdogan commands fierce loyalty from pious Turks who once felt disenfranchised in secular Turkey and his political career has survived an attempted coup in 2016, and numerous corruption scandals.
However, if Turks do oust Erdogan it will be largely because they saw their prosperity and ability to meet basic needs decline, with inflation that topped 85 percent in Oct. 2022 and a collapse in the lira currency.
Erdogan has taken tight control of most of Turkey's institutions and sidelined liberals and critics. Human Rights Watch, in its World Report 2022, said Erdogan's government has set back Turkey's human rights record by decades.
Kurdish voters, who account for 15-20 percent of the electorate, will play a vital role, with the Nation Alliance unlikely to attain a parliamentary majority by itself.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) is not part of the main opposition alliance but fiercely opposes Erdogan after a crackdown on its members in recent years.
