Government of Turkey

Sinan Oğan from Ata Alliance, who received 5 percent of the votes in the first round of the presidential elections, is expected to announce his decision of who he will extend his support to in the upcoming presidential runoff on May 22.

The opposition Nation Alliance has said that it sees the upcoming presidential election runoff as a "referendum," making calls on people to vote for democracy.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced that the government will hand over the first batch of new homes to earthquake victims by October or November, underlining that their priority will be the reconstruction of the quake-hit provinces if they win the presidential elections on May 28.

"Our priority is to erase the traces of the earthquake as soon as possible and revive our cities," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 20 during a visit to earthquake-hit province of Adıyaman.

"With the strength I have derived from affection, I have spent my whole political life to serve our nation. I became Mayor of Istanbul, Prime Minister and President of Türkiye, but I have never given up this quest, this determination,"President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 19.

Türkiye's Supreme Election Board on May 19 confirmed the results of the first round of Türkiye's presidential election in which neither incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan nor his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, receiving the majority support needed for an outright victory.

The Turkish presidential election result was a blow to Turkey, to Greece, to the broader region and to democracy as a whole. While the rule in democracy is that we respect the will of the people, democracy's enduring weakness is that it contributes to its own undoing.

Waiting for Spring

A couple walks under a poster of the Turkish presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), the day after the general election, in Ankara, Turkey, 15 May 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated his calls for Turks living abroad to cast votes for the second round of the presidential elections as the four-day voting process for around 3.4 million eligible electors will begin on May 20.

Ballot boxes have been reestablished at Istanbul Airport and customs gates to allow voters living abroad to cast their ballots in the second round of the Turkish presidential election.

The watchdog placed more than 4,600 polling stations at 46 border gates.