The most significant elections in Turkish history will decide if Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose has been president almost 20 years, will be kept in office.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, his major rivals, threatens to revoke many of the authority that President Erdogan gained after surviving a botched attempt in 2016.
He has a good chance of triumph due to a broad alliance of the opposition.
Turkey’s 64 million voters have been most worried about two issues: two earthquakes, and rising prices.
But after twenty years, many voters are also expecting change.
While President Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted administration has accused the West of attempting to overthrow him, Mr. Kilicdaroglu promises this Nato member state a road back to a pro-Western, more democratic position.
Voters waited in line at polling places even before they opened since the election has recently turned tense.
More than 100 buses came in Antakya, one of the places most severely affected by the earthquakes in February, transporting residents who had been relocated by the tragedy so they could vote. Eleven provinces of the nation have been impacted.
On Sunday, the winner has to receive more than 50% of the vote to claim an outright victory. If not, a run-off will be held in two weeks.
The 74-year-old Mr. Kilicdaroglu entered a crowded polling place at a school in Ankara to cries of “everything will be all right,” and one voter screamed out “grandpa,” which has come to be a nickname of endearment among young voters.
Sima, who came to see him with her companion Pilay, expressed her excitement at the prospect of change after more than two decades.
