Erdogan gains over 50% after processing half of ballots

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is gaining more than 55% of the vote in the second round of the presidential elections based on the results of processing ballots with 61% of ballot boxes. Preliminary voting data published agency Anadolu.

After processing more than half of the ballots, Erdogan is gaining 55.26% of the vote, while the current president’s rival, opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, has 44.74%.

According to the first published data of the CEC of Turkey, after processing 42.8%, 57.1% of voters voted for Erdogan.

Voting in the second round of the presidential elections in Turkey took place today, May 28. Now all polling stations are closed, the counting of votes has begun. In total, 191,800 ballot boxes were installed in Turkey and abroad, and it was possible to vote in 81 provinces of the republic.

The day before the start of the second round, on May 27, Kılıçdaroğlu urged “not to commit a sin” (haram) and not to vote in the second round of elections for the incumbent head of state. Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesman Omer Celik condemned Erdogan’s rival’s call for the upcoming elections.

The first round of presidential elections in Turkey took place on May 14. It was decided to organize a second round after none of the three candidates passed the 50% mark required to win in the first round. The current president of the republic, Erdogan, scored 49.4% against 44.88% from his rival, the leader of the Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kılıçdaroglu. Nationalist candidate Sinan Ogan won 5.17% of the vote and later announced that he would support Erdogan in the second round.