Istanbul/Oslo (Affenposten): Preliminary results from Turkey show that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is leading. Now the choice is being accused of a political coup.
According to Anadolu Agency, incumbent President Erdogan leads with just under 50 percent of the vote when votes are counted from more than 84 percent of the ballot boxes. It is the government news agency that has a monopoly on publishing election results.
It says opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu won just over 44 percent of the votes counted.
The initial findings should be taken with a pinch of salt, says professor and Turkey expert Einar Wijn at the University of Oslo.
After the first results appeared, Wiggin stressed that it was too early to say anything about the results of the presidential elections.
Less management
But at the election vigil organized by CPH in Istanbul, there was some confusion about the numbers, says an Aftenposten correspondent.
The outcome differs widely between the state news agency and the opposition-friendly news agency Anka.
It showed Erdoğan leading by only 48 percent when 65 percent of the votes were counted. According to ANKA, Kilicdaroglu received 46 percent of the vote.
The opposition still hopes that Kllicdarolgu will be able to win. At the CHP election vigil in Istanbul, several people pointed out that Erdogan was in a much better position when 65 percent of the votes were counted in 2018.
But it already seems that the elections will not be decided on Sunday. Instead, you will likely move to a second round in a couple of weeks.
He accuses his opponents of a political coup
On Twitter, Kemal Kilicdaroglu claimed early Sunday evening that he was driving.
Later on Sunday evening, he said, “We won’t sleep tonight.”
The opposition should have access to the same electoral data as the state news agency. Many of Kilicdaroglu’s supporters say no one should trust Anadolu Agency’s findings.
– We can say this: Kilicdaroglu will be declared the 13th president of our country today, the famous Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu said on Turkish TV on election night.
The mayor of Ankara, Mansur Yavas, shared figures showing the stalemate between the two candidates. He and Imamoglu belong to Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People’s Party.
At the same time, a spokesman for Erdogan’s party, the Justice and Development Party, said the preliminary results put Erdogan ahead. Just before 9 p.m. Sunday, the president’s party accused the opposition of a political coup by favoring the election result while the votes were still being counted.
On Sunday evening, Erdogan said that announcing early election results affects the will of the people.
lead shrinkage
There is an important explanation for Erdogan’s early leadership. The reason is that a large proportion of the first votes counted come from areas where the government already has significant support.
So Erdogan’s lead diminished as the number of votes counted increased.
Several polls have previously given Kilicdaroglu a slight advantage.
Some indicated that it might break the 50 percent threshold, which is necessary to avoid a new round of elections on May 28. This seems less likely now.
The person most likely to do better tonight is the third candidate, nationalist Sinan Ogan. Both news agencies show he is likely to get about 5 percent of the vote.
The most important election in many years
There were queues outside polling stations in many places when Turks went to the polls to elect a new president and parliament. Polling stations closed at four o’clock in the afternoon, Norwegian time.
The election could give the 69-year-old Erdogan another five-year term or step him down in favor of Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The opposition leader promised to strengthen democracy in the country.
The election is considered one of the most important elections in Turkey ever and the biggest challenge Erdogan has faced in his career.
high demand
Early reports indicate that turnout was exceptionally high. But the final figure has not yet been confirmed by Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council.
Electoral College Chairman Ahmet Yener said after polling stations closed that voting took place without any problems.
At the same time, accusations of vote rigging abounded on social media. A video was shared on Twitter of someone who allegedly voted for Erdogan multiple times. The deputy leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party was among those who shared the video.
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