Turkey is waiting for the outcome of the elections

The Turkey quake zone: The fate of the political party and the country’s most populous political party in a divisive election campaign

The country’s main Kurdish political party, currently Turkey’s second largest opposition grouping that the government has targeted with arrests and lawsuits, is supporting Kilicdaroglu in the presidential race.

Sinan Ogan, a former academic who has the backing of an anti-immigrant nationalist party, is also running for president. The country’s electoral board considered Muharrem Ince’s withdrawal to be invalid and will count his votes in the race.

Voters will also be casting ballots to fill seats in the 600-member parliament. The opposition would need at least a majority to be able to enact some of the democratic reforms it has promised.

Many of those who fled the destruction of the quake zone faced difficulties voting. Hundreds of thousands moved to other cities, while at least 2.7 million still in the hard-hit zone live in tents, shipping containers or other makeshift housing in heavily damaged neighborhoods. That is a substantial share of the nearly nine million eligible voters in the 11 quake-affected provinces of southern Turkey.

He has extended the political alliance of his ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, with two nationalist parties to include a small leftist party and two marginal Islamist parties.

Six opposition parties banded together to support Kilicdaroglu, because they were dissatisfied with Erdogan’s leadership. The presidency is being called for to share more power with the parliament, as was the case in the past. The electoral commission pledges to get more legal protection for individual rights and shore up the independence of the courts.

In his bid to win over voters hit by inflation, he has raised wages and pensions, while showcasing Turkey’s defense industry.

As in previous years, the divisive election campaign this year was led by Turkey’s Prime Minister, and he used state resources to his advantage. He said that the opposition was traitors and that they were doing harm to traditional family values.

The elections around the world are being watched closely because they are a test of the ability of a united opposition to overthrow a leader who has concentrated most of his power in the hands of the state.

Election Results for the Turkish Presidential Elections: A Brief Account of the February 8th Earthquake Outburst with Brianda Dayanir

In addition, Erdogan was widely blamed for a slow and initially inadequate response to February’s devastating earthquake that left more than 50,000 dead and millions homeless.

The elections come as the country is wracked by economic turmoil that critics blame on the government’s mishandling of the economy and a steep cost-of-living crisis.

More than 64 million people, including 3.4 million overseas voters, are eligible to vote in the elections, which are taking place the year Turkey marks the centenary of the establishment of the republic. This type of civic participation is very popular in Turkey due to the country’s suppression of free expression and assembly.

Polling began at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and will close at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT). Until the embargo is lifted at 9 pm, media organizations are not allowed to report partial results. There is no exit polls.

If the nationalist candidate who came in third place in the presidential election gives the green light, President Erdogan will be able to take another five years in office.

She stated that the earthquake survivors weren’t helped by the government, and that the falling economy was another hurdle to her starting a new life. She supported Mr. Erdogan’s challenger.

Kadife Dik, a 66-year-old woman living on her husband’s pension, also returned to Antakya with her family to vote and found that all of their belongings were stolen from their destroyed home. They sat pensively on the side of a road, facing the heavily damaged building where they once had lived.

His family drove their own car to Antakya to vote, but did not manage to get the reimbursement for gas that Turkey’s disaster management agency had promised, Mr. Dayanir said. It was worth it for him.

He said that without the government’s help, his cousins would have also lost their lives in the rubble.

The earthquakes that devastated Antakya last year: People mourning the loss of their home… And what will they do about it?

Many people who were devastated by the earthquakes only had six weeks to change their address through the government online platform. In the election board offices, they had until April 2 to do it.

They said it was depressing to return to the earthquake zone and see that the government had only removed rubble, but taken no other discernible actions to pave the way for residents to return. A number of them said they would like to come back to their homes, but given the lack of progress, they cannot.

“There are deficiencies in the legal system here, also nepotism, lack of merit,” he said. “We had the earthquake, and the government didn’t even intervene,” he added. Before the earthquake, our minds were made up.

People lined up Sunday to vote outside containers acting as improvised polling stations during the presidential and parliamentary elections in the southern Turkish city of Antakya, destroyed by this year’s devastating earthquake.

A run-off election for Turkey is scheduled to take place on May 28, and that’s when opposition supporters say they’ll do everything they can to make it happen.

Nationalist third-party candidate Sinan Ogan is expected to have a meeting with both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu in the coming days.

Erdogan’s recent performance in the epoch of growth and inflation: a frustrated populist complainer’s frustration with the economy

Voters interviewed by NPR before the polls closed Sunday said they had ample reason to be dissatisfied with Erdogan’s recent performance. Families are struggling to make ends meet due to the high prices and stubborn inflation after years of a strong economy.

Pre-election forecasts gave a slight edge to Kilicdaroglu in Sunday’s vote, but Erdogan surprised his critics with a strong showing that reached beyond his traditional base of working-class and observant Muslim supporters.