Most Russian Turks voted for Erdogan’s opponent

More than half of Turkish citizens living in Russia voted for one opposition candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, in the presidential election.

According to the CEC, the current Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, received 38.26% of the votes of Russian Turks, and Kılıçdaroglu – 54.47%. Also 4.24% voted for the ATA Alliance candidate Sinan Ogan and another 3.03% for Muharrem Ince who withdrew his candidacy from the election.

The data was obtained after processing 93.75% of ballots from polling stations in Russia.

Regular presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Turkey on 14 May. After 100% of the ballot boxes were considered, Erdogan won 49.35% of the vote and Kılıçdaroglu got 45%. To win, a candidate must receive 50% plus one vote. The preliminary results of the election mean that a second round will be held on May 28.

At the same time, Erdogan, speaking at a rally of his supporters outside the headquarters of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Ankara, said he was confident of winning the first round of elections. “If people have made a choice in favor of a second round, then we are ready to accept that decision,” he said.

One opposition candidate, Kılıçdaroğlu, also spoke out towards the end of the election, noting that Erdoğan had not achieved the desired result. He appealed to his supporters to be patient and promised victory in the second round.

At the same time, in the parliamentary elections in Turkey, the Republican Alliance, led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of the incumbent President Erdogan, won 49.3% of the votes after counting 99.55% of the votes, which guarantees it approximately 322 out of 600 seats in parliament. In turn, the opposition People’s Alliance, led by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) of Kemal Kılıçdaroglu, received 35.19%, or about 212 seats.

Thus, Erdogan’s AKP can alone take 266 seats in parliament, and the CHP – 168.