• Tuesday, 24 December 2024

Voting opens for Turks living abroad for run-off elections

Voting opens for Turks living abroad for run-off elections

Berlin, 20 May 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Turkish citizens living abroad may begin casting their votes on Saturday for the run-off elections for the presidency in Turkey.

 

Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won a majority of the votes in the first round of the election on May 14, but narrowly failed to win the absolute majority above 50% needed to avoid a run-off vote.

 

He is due to face Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who came in second place.

 

In Turkey, some 61 million voters are to head to the polls on May 28 to choose between the two candidates.

 

It is the first time in Turkey's history that there will be a run-off election for the presidency.

 

Abroad, some 3.4 million eligible voters can take part in the second round of voting.

 

The largest diaspora is in Germany, home to some 3 million people with Turkish roots. Of that group, some 1.5 million people are eligible to vote in Turkey's elections.

 

In Germany, some Turkish voters have until May 24 to cast their ballots at any of 17 locations in Germany, according to the Turkish election authority.

 

In Berlin, according to the Turkish Embassy, people can also vote until Wednesday at the Turkish consulate general in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district.

 

The embassy says Turkish people and German-Turkish dual nationals from Berlin and Brandenburg can cast their vote as long as they had already registered before the first round of voting.

 

According to the embassy, about 64,000 eligible voters cast their ballots at the consulate general during the first round.

 

The Turkish Federation Berlin-Brandenburg (TBB) says both parties are mobilizing their supporters in Berlin for the run-off election.

 

In the first round of voting, some 65% of voters in Germany backed Erdoğan, meaning he performed better in Germany and other countries than at home in Turkey.

 

Photo: EPA