Round II: Erdogan, Kilicdaroglu heading for presidential runoff

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Turkey is heading to a presidential elections runoff after the main rivaling candidates failed to attain the 50% mark +1 of voter support.

While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Justice and Development AKP ruling party landed 49.34% of votes, Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the opposition's coalition the Republican People's Party CHP was able to garner 45% after more than 98% of the votes were counted.

The run-off elections, scheduled on May 28, do not require a 50% mark, and the candidate with the most votes is declared as Turkey's president.

Check out: Al Mayadeen's full converage of Turkish General Elections 2023

The preliminary voter turnout in the presidential and legislative elections on Sunday exceeded 88% at home and 45% overseas, Turkish state news agency TRT reported.

A combined total of over 64.1 million voters are eligible to vote both in the country and abroad, including around 4.9 million who will vote for the first time in Turkey. The number of imprisoned voters is 53,172.

Some 973 districts and 1,094 district election boards held a total of 191,885 ballot boxes to elect a new president and fresh members of parliament, who will serve a term of five years.

Erdogan congratulated on his Twitter account all the Turkish citizens who voted in the name of democracy and take part in the election work, "and I express my gratitude to each and every one of them."

The fact that the 14 May elections took place in the form of a great feast of democracy with peace and quiet is an expression of the democratic maturity of our Turkey, the incumbent President said on Sunday in the heat of the election.

14 Mayıs seçimlerinin uhulet ve suhulet ile büyük bir demokrasi şöleni şeklinde gerçekleşmesi, Türkiye’mizin sahip olduğu demokratik olgunluğun ifadesidir.…

— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) May 14, 2023