A man casts her ballot at a polling station in a government school during Türkiye's presidental elections in Adana on May 28, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)
ANKARA – Voting started in the runoff presidential election in Türkiye on Sunday in which incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his main contender Kemal Kilicdaroglu race for the presidency.
The polls opened at 8 am (0500 GMT) and will close at 5 pm (1400 GMT) local time. Unofficial results are expected at roughly 9 pm local time (1800 GMT).
Erdogan is Türkiye's longest-serving leader and held the position of prime minister from 2003 until 2014, after which he was elected president
The presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14 saw a high voter turnout at 86.98 percent as almost 54 million citizens went to the polls. Nearly 50,000 new voters who recently turned 18 are eligible to vote in the runoff.
In the first round of the presidential election, incumbent President Erdogan had earned 49.52 percent of the vote while Kilicdaroglu received 44.88 percent.
The country of 85 million people has more than 64 million eligible voters to elect a president for a five-year term. Whoever reaches 50 percent of the votes on Sunday wins the presidency.
Erdogan is Türkiye's longest-serving leader and held the position of prime minister from 2003 until 2014, after which he was elected president.
His ruling Justice and Development Party has just won a parliamentary majority with the help of his nationalist partner, the Nationalist Movement Party.
People attend a rally of Republican People's Party (CHP) in Istanbul, Türkiye, on May 6, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Erdogan has garnered strong support from electors and with a comfortable majority in parliament, he may have the psychological advantage for the run-off.
Another point in his favor is the endorsement that he got from Sinan Ogan, a nationalist politician who came third in the first round with 5.17 percent of the votes.
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Meanwhile, Kilicdaroglu, the candidate of a joint-opposition bloc, promised to return to orthodox economic policies from Erdogan's unconventional method of taming high inflation with interest rate cuts.
He also favors a more Western-friendly foreign policy than Erdogan who has established close ties with Russia despite its NATO allies' criticism.
A survey published on Thursday by pollster Konda put support for Erdogan at 52.7 percent and Kilicdaroglu at 47.3 percent
A survey published on Thursday by pollster Konda put support for Erdogan at 52.7 percent and Kilicdaroglu at 47.3 percent.
Opinion polls showed that millions see Erdogan as their leader despite the country's current economic troubles and cost-of-living crisis.
"We can manage economic challenges, we will overcome problems, but without Erdogan, the independence of our nation will be at stake," Baki Aslan, a middle-aged grocery shop employee told Xinhua in the capital Ankara's Birlik neighborhood.
During his election campaign, Erdogan underlined the necessity for strong leadership to maintain the country's unity and stability in a volatile region.
People walk past election campaign posters in Ankara, Türkiye, on May 23, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Meanwhile, some economists have said that Türkiye's financial woes may deepen in the case of Erdogan's reelection, predicting volatility for the Turkish currency lira which already lost over 70 percent in value against the US dollar since the start of 2022.
"After May 28, it will not be possible to contain the appreciation of the dollar against the lira, we should brace for more turmoil," economist Alaattin Aktas wrote in his column in the Turkish online daily Ekonomim earlier this month.
He said that Türkiye's public and private annual external debt has increased to $203 billion, warning that the weakening of the lira would pose additional challenges to the economy.
ALSO READ: Turkish opposition contests thousands of ballots after election
In a video posted on Twitter on Tuesday, Kilicdaroglu called on electors to save Türkiye from "economic ruin."