Who will be the next president of Turkey?

Erdoğan or Kilicdaroglu

The citizens of Turkey will vote again on Sunday to elect their next president. The candidate who wins the majority of votes from the country's population will lead Turkey for the next five years.

Although he has been leading in the polls in the first round of voting, the current president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has not yet been elected. According to the rules of the Turkish elections, a president needs to receive at least 50% support to be elected.

On May 14, the first round of elections took place in Turkey. In that election, Erdogan received 49.52% of the votes. His main opponent, Kilicdaroglu, secured 44.88% of the votes. As a result, according to the country's rules, there will be another presidential election on Sunday.

In that same vote, Meral Aksener secured the third position. She received 5.20% of the votes. On May 22, through a press conference, she announced her support for Erdogan in the second round of voting.

In the first round of voting, Erdogan's party obtained a majority in the parliament. Aksener's statement suggests that her party believes the president should come from the party that holds the majority in parliament. Therefore, she has decided to support Erdogan.

Sinan Ogan said that political polarization can exist, but we must fight against terrorism. And it is for that reason that I support Erdogan. His reasoning is that Kilicdaroglu, the main opposition representative against Erdogan, is a part of such an opposition alliance that cannot be supported in any way.

The voters of the country participated in the presidential election at a time when just three months earlier, the country had experienced a devastating earthquake.

In the first round, the leader of the secular Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, had slightly surpassed the current President Erdogan in various surveys. However, Erdogan has dismissed these surveys as flawed, even though they posed the fiercest opposition he has faced in his political career.

The biggest criticism against Erdogan is that his government has silenced dissenting voices and undermined their rights. It is alleged that he has even weakened the judicial system in the country. Although his administration denies these allegations.

In terms of foreign affairs, under Erdogan's leadership, Turkey has somewhat distanced itself both from the Middle East and from military power outside its borders. 

On the other hand, due to its close relationship with Russia, Erdogan has also experienced a divergence from the Western world. As a result, relations with the European Union and the United States are gradually deteriorating.