Turkey closes polling stations for second round of presidential election

Voting in the second round of the presidential elections in Turkey has been completed, and the counting of votes has begun. Polling stations began work at 8:00 and closed at 17:00 (coincides with Moscow time).

A total of 191,800 ballot boxes were installed in Turkey and abroad. In total, it was possible to vote in 81 provinces of the republic.

Earlier, TASS, citing a statement by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Istanbul wrotethat five people were detained during the voting. According to the agency, the citizens were detained by Turkish security forces due to the publication on social networks of “provocative and manipulative” messages about the second round of presidential elections.

A 23-year-old citizen was also detained, who pretended to be an observer from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which was represented by candidate Omer Celik, who had dropped out of the presidential race in the first round. About it wrote Star newspaper. The suspect, who came to a school in Turkish Konya with a forged document, was taken into custody.

In addition, the media wrote that the current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan handed out again money on a plot in Istanbul. According to TASS, Erdogan had 200 Turkish lira banknotes in his hands (about 800 rubles at the exchange rate as of May 28, 2023). The current president handed out money to voters in the first round of elections as well – TRT TV channel captured the moment Erdogan distributes paper bills to teenagers, judging by the size, small denominations.

The presidential elections in Turkey were held 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.

The day before the start of the second round, May 27, Kilicdaroglu urged “do not commit a sin” (haram) and not 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. He called the words of Kılıçdaroglu an atavism of the legacy of those who carried out military coups in Turkey.