The first round of presidential elections in Türkiye's history has ended.

Turkish voters on May 28 concluded their vote to choose a new president for the next five years. The runoff election has proven to be the biggest political challenge to incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his 20-year reign as the supreme politician of a NATO power located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Mr. Erdogan entered the runoff election with a significant advantage after leading his main rival, Mr. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, by about 4.5 percentage points in the first round on May 14. Since neither candidate achieved an absolute majority (more than 50% of the vote), the first presidential runoff in Turkish history was inevitable.

The first round results also showed that Mr Erdogan's AKP and its political allies maintained their majority in the Turkish parliament , allowing the incumbent president to argue that voting for him to stay in power would mean a more effective, unified government.

The May 28 election ended at 5 p.m. local time, and votes are being counted. More than 64 million voters are eligible to vote. Polling stations opened at 8 a.m.

Türkiye does not hold post-election polls, but preliminary results are expected within hours of the end of voting.

The broadcast ban on the announcement of the results is expected to be lifted at around 6:30 p.m. local time. (Vietnam time is 4 hours ahead of Türkiye time).

Turkish citizens living abroad went to the polls. About 1.9 million people voted in 73 countries. There were also polling stations at border crossings, where ballot boxes remained open until the end of voting hours, across Turkey .

Minh Duc (According to NY Times, Al Jazeera)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/ket-thuc-bau-cu-tong-thong-vong-2-dau-tien-trong-lich-su-tho-nhi-ky-a609997.html