Erdogan continues leading polls despite shrinking gap
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Of the counted ballots so far, the People's Alliance has garnered 50.86% of the votes, which translates to nearly 326 seats in the national legislature.
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Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party gather at the party headquarters, in Ankara, Turkey, Sunday, May 14, 2023 (AP Photo/Ali Unal )
The People's Alliance which is led by Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP), is projected to win more than half of the seats in the Grand National Assembly, according to the Anadolu state news agency.
Of the counted ballots so far, the People's Alliance has garnered 50.86% of the votes, which translates to nearly 325 seats in the national legislature. Meanwhile, the National Alliance has garnered 34.35% of the votes so far which translates to 215 seats in the parliament.
As of 10:40 pm, with 85.82% of the votes counted, the turnout of the presidential race shows Kilicdaroglu lagging behind Erdogan by 6% with 44.06%. where Erdogan has the absolute majority of voters of the counted votes so far with 50.13% of the votes.
At this rate, Erdogan is projected to win the presidential race without needing a second round of elections.
Read more: Turkish Presidential Elections in numbers
According to AFP, polling stations in Turkey have reportedly closed at around 5:00 pm this afternoon.
The elections are considered the most important in the Republic's 100-year history: whereby Turkey is set at a crossroads. Erdogan's claim for a new term of the presidency is contended by Kilicdaroglu who aims to pivot Turkey towards a more secular Westernized course.
Hundreds of supervisors were reportedly deployed to the 50,000 polling stations since 8:00 am this morning.
In addition to the observers appointed by the parties, the Council of Europe sent 350 supervisors to oversee the election process.
