Turkey Geared Up for Runoff Presidential Election

Erdogan, who has ruled the country for more than 20 years, is favored to win for five more years after he marginally missed victory in the first polls on May 14.

The incumbent president received 49.5 percent of the votes, while Kilicdaroglu scored 44.8 percent in the first run. A third candidate, Sinan Ogan, who is an unfamiliar figure to the Turkish public, took 5.2 percent with the support of an ultranationalist alliance.

However, in an unforeseen political disagreement, Ogan opted to support Erdogan in the run-off while the ATA Alliance that backed him threw its weight behind Kilicdaroglu after reaching a deal.

The rise in nationalist votes in the first vote and the nationalistic nature of the third candidate and alliance have had a significant effect on election campaigning during the two-week interlude before the runoff.

The election agenda has visibly moved from the crisis-hit Turkish economy and relief from the February earthquakes that killed tens of thousands of people to topics such as terrorism and the fate of refugees in the country, Al Jazeera reported.

The turnout in the first round of voting was extremely high, over 80 percent of the 64 million eligible voters in Turkey and overseas, according to Turkey’s election council.

The runoff is scheduled for Sunday. Polls close at 5 pm local time and results are expected a few hours later.