Second Round of Presidential Elections in Turkey; Voters Decide

Voters in Turkey went to the polls on Sunday for the second time to choose the country's next president between Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. In the first round of elections, Mr. Erdoğan received more votes than Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu but did not obtain the necessary amount for a direct victory. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan garnered 49.5% and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu 44.9% of the votes. Earlier, the leader of an anti-immigrant party in Turkey stated on Wednesday that he would support the opposition candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, in the second round of the presidential elections. The support of Özdahg, the leader of the 'Victory Party,' could increase Kılıçdaroğlu's votes. According to Reuters, the Victory Party received 2.2% support in the parliamentary elections on May 14. Özdahg's support for Kılıçdaroğlu comes at a time when another candidate from the first round, Sinan Oğan, has backed Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In the first round, Oğan only received 5.2% of the presidential votes. Özdahg stated that his party and Kılıçdaroğlu agreed on a plan to return migrants within a year 'in accordance with international laws and human rights.' Reuters reported that the Kurds, who make up about one-fifth of Turkey's population, are the hopes of Erdoğan's opponents to end his 20-year rule. For some Kurdish voters, the risk of Erdoğan's victory has increased as he has ramped up his nationalistic tone in an effort to gain votes ahead of the second round. The announcement of the 'People's Democratic Party' supporting Kılıçdaroğlu has complicated matters due to his agreement with an anti-immigrant party. The 'People's Democratic Party' claims this agreement is 'against global democratic principles.' However, the party issued a statement on Thursday supporting Kılıçdaroğlu's candidacy. An official from the party stated they would vote on Sunday to end Erdoğan's 'one-man regime.' In the early years of his rule, Erdoğan expanded the political and cultural rights of the Kurds. He lifted restrictions on the use of the Kurdish language and oversaw the peace process with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group that began an armed struggle against the central government in 1984. Turkey and Western countries consider it a terrorist organization. However, after the ceasefire was violated in 2015, Erdoğan changed his course, and Turkish officials began to suppress the Kurds, leading to the arrest of thousands of members of the People's Democratic Party. Detainees were accused of insurgency against the government, and many lawmakers and mayors from this party were dismissed and imprisoned. Erdoğan has repeatedly accused his rival of collaborating with terrorism using the support of the People's Democratic Party for Kılıçdaroğlu. The People's Democratic Party has denied the accusations related to militants. Erdoğan has also repeatedly drawn public attention to a manipulated video to accuse Kılıçdaroğlu of connections with the PKK. Since the onset of the PKK rebellion, over 40,000 people have been killed. Kılıçdaroğlu has described Erdoğan's accusations regarding his ties to terrorism as slander.