Turkish voters in the US begin voting for June 7 elections

Turkish citizens in the U.S. began voting at polling stations inside the Turkish Embassy in Washington and consulates across the country on May 16, for the upcoming June 7 elections.

Some 14,000 Turkish citizens are eligible to vote in Washington D.C., while the overall number of registered Turkish voters in the U.S. is about 90,000.

Along with the U.S. capital, Turkish citizens will be casting their votes in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Boston and Miami until May 31, 7 p.m., local time.

Hasan Kocahan, who was the first to vote in Washington D.C., had travelled all the way from Florida, where he was registered as a voter.

"I am happy to be first in line," Kocahan said, adding he thought there would be a long queue.

Turkish Ambassador to the U.S. Serdar K?l?ç called on Turkish citizens to participate in the elections by casting their vote at the nearest polling station.

"We are expecting a high number of participants," K?l?ç said.

According to Turkey's Supreme Election Board (YSK), an overall total of 112 polling stations would be set up for almost three million Turkish nationals living overseas.

"No one should doubt the security of the votes," said ?brahim Uyar, the Washington representative of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). 

According to Uyar, the votes at the consulates and the embassy would be secured in a room with three different locks - one key to a unique lock will be given to representatives from the AKP, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The room's door will only be able to open when all three keys are used together, he said.

Yurter Özcan, CHP's U.S. representative, also called on...