Voting begins for Turkey’s new president, parliament

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – People in Turkey began heading to polling stations and casting their votes Sunday morning to elect a new president and parliament in elections poised to be the most challenging ones for incumbent Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his AK Party which came to power more than a decade ago.

Over 56 million people are registered to vote at 180,000 ballot boxes across the country. Voting began at 8:00 am local time (05:00 GMT) and will end at 5:00 pm (14:00 GMT).

It is the first time the presidential and parliamentary elections are held simultaneously, with both the presidential and parliamentary ballots placed in a single envelope.

Erdogan called for early elections, ahead of their Nov. 2019 date, claiming a new mandate would enable him to address the country’s mounting economic problems better, as well as help him combat the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters in Turkey and neighboring countries.

Muharrem Ince, the presidential candidate for the secularist Republic People’s Party (CHP), is running against Erdogan and is being viewed as a rising opposition figure in the country. During a rally on Saturday in Istanbul, where hundreds of thousands were in attendance, Ince promised to reverse what he and other opposition parties view as a swing toward an authoritarian rule under Erdogan.

“If Erdogan wins, your phones will continue to be listened to ... Fear will continue to reign ... If I win, the courts will be independent,” said Ince, adding he would lift Turkey's state of emergency in the country’s southeast areas within 48 hours of being elected.

Editing by Nadia Riva