by Ece Toksabay and Daren Butler
ANKARA, May 28 (Reuters) – Turks are being called to the polls on Sunday for the second round of the presidential election, which could see the reign of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in power for two decades, extended.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 69, came first in the first round of the election with 49.51% of the vote, a higher score than expected but insufficient to win in the first round, as had been the case. in the two previous presidential elections.
His opponent, the candidate supported by six opposition parties, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, 74, won 44.88% of the vote in the first round.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, received the support of the third man in the presidential election, the nationalist Sinan Ogan, in the interval between the two rounds.
This election is decisive to know not only who will lead Turkey, a member of NATO, but also what will be the political and economic orientation of this regional power of 85 million inhabitants, particularly in its relations with Russia, the Middle -East and West.
An opinion poll carried out on May 20 and 21 gives Recep Tayyip Erdogan the winner with 52.7% of the vote, against 47.3% for Kemal Kiliçdaroglu.
The vote of Kurdish voters, who make up about a fifth of the population, remains uncertain.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) backed Kemal Kiliçdaroglu in the first round, but after the opposition candidate swung to the right to secure nationalist votes in the in-between -turns, the HDP did not explicitly name him and instead called on voters to reject him.
Polling stations will open at 08:00 (05:00 GMT) and close at 17:00 (14:00 GMT).
(With contributions from Jonathan Spicer in Istanbul, written by Alexandra Hudson; French version Camille Raynaud)
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