Diaspora votes exceed 2018 election numbers: Turkish VP
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay urges Turkish expats to exercise their constitutional rights and vote.
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Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay attends an online panel organized by Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) Foundation at Washington D.C. on 2 September 2020 in Ankara, Turkey (Anadolu Agency)
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay on Friday called on Turkish expats to engage in not only the political process of their home country but also of the countries they are residing in, the Anadolu Agency reported.
"Since 2014, we have seen an increasing trend in voter turnout and participation ... We expect every one of our citizens living abroad to be involved in the governance process in Türkiye," Oktay said in a press talk in London.
The Turkish Vice President highlighted that "as of today, the number of votes cast has reached more than the total number of votes cast in the 2018 elections," urging Turkish expats to "exercise their constitutional rights and vote."
On April 29, Turkish expatriates in the United Kingdom began casting ballots, and the process will continue until Sunday.
According to Anadolu Agency, a total of 127,281 registered voters can vote at polling stations set up in London, Manchester, Leicester, and Edinburgh.
Earlier, Sezin Öney, a Turkish researcher told Al Mayadeen, that the Turkish diaspora is mostly consisting of current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP supporters, adding that the elections are proving to be a point of no return on an international level.
The Turkish daily Hurriyet newspaper confirmed that polling stations outside Turkey, especially in Germany and Italy, witnessed a high turnout of Turkish expatriates cast their votes in the Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections.
Around 800,000 Turkish citizens abroad cast their votes in the first six days of the voting process -- a high turnout compared to the 2018 elections when only 328,575 people voted in the first five days.
#Turkey is preparing to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14, 2023, in what is described as "the most important in the history of the country."
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