The Turkish opposition denounced this Sunday several irregularities during the second and decisive round of the presidential elections, including physical attacks against electoral observers in southeastern Turkey.
The social democratic party CHP, the party of opposition candidate Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, spoke today of numerous cases of votes in the name of people who were not present on the ballots, the registration of deceased people as voters and the delivery of pre-stamped ballots.
The vice-president of the CHP parliamentary group, Ozgür Ozel, declared that a former deputy from Istanbul and several party poll watchers were beaten in Sanliurfa for denouncing the irregularities.
According to Özel said on Twitter, the incident took place in the village of Karaali, in Sanliurfa, where there were an insufficient number of gendarmes deployed.
One of the observers attacked told halktv that they tried to lynch him in the town, where “in many places people who oppose irregularities are threatened and beaten.”
Ahmet Davutoglu, former prime minister of the ruling AKP party and now an opposition party, also protested the beatings. In a message on social networks, he assured that he is receiving information about voting from people who are not included in the records.
In today’s elections the current president, the Islamist Recdep Tayyip Erdogan, and the social democrat opponent Kemal Kiliçdaroglu.
Erdogan starts as a great favorite, since in the first round, two weeks ago, he obtained 49.5% of the votes, almost five points more than his rival.
The polling stations close at 5:00 p.m. local time (2:00 p.m. GMT) and the official results of the vote are expected for the following hours.
Erdogan, at the head of the Justice and Development Party (AKP, Islamoconservative) voted at noon in a conservative neighborhood of Istanbul.
“No country in the world has a participation rate of 90% and Türkiye has almost reached it. I call on my fellow citizens to come to vote without hesitating”, declared the 69-year-old leader, who starts with a clear advantage in this unprecedented second round.
The opposition candidate, at the head of a six-party coalition, voted for his part in Ankara, the country’s capital, where he invited his supporters to stay close to the polls after the closure of the polling stations to monitor the count. “To bring true democracy and freedom to this country and get rid of an authoritarian government, I invite all citizens to vote,” said Kiliçdaroglu, 74.
The elections in Türkiyepopulation 85 million and a member of NATO, are closely watched by both Western powers and Middle Eastern countries due to their key geopolitical role.
Two country visions
Two visions of the country face each other in these elections: On the one hand, Kiliçdaroglu vows to restore democracy, the independence of justice and the press. On the other, President Erdogan embodies the promise of stability, even though his hold on power rivals that of the Ottoman sultans.
Erdogan’s lead in the first round was achieved despite the significant inflation that hits the country -exceeded 85% in autumn- and the devastating earthquake that hit the nation three months ago.
The social democrat Kiliçdaroglu failed to take advantage of the economic crisis that is taking its toll on Turkic households and young people.
He leads a coalition of parties that ranges from the nationalist right to the liberal center-left and was backed by the pro-Kurdish HDP party.
After the first round, Kiliçdaroglu appeared more offensive and less smiling than at the start of his campaign.
Lacking access to the mainstream media, he struggled on Twitter as his supporters tried to mobilize voters by going door-to-door.
At stake were 8.3 million voters who did not vote two weeks ago, despite a participation figure of 87%.
With information from EFE and AFP
Keep reading:
Erdogan’s combative nationalism arrives with an advantage in the ballotage in Türkiye
Elections in Turkey: more than 60 million citizens vote in an unprecedented second round between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu
Source-www.infobae.com