“Get rid of this authoritarian regime”

The presidential election in Turkey is to be decided and the two candidates have cast their votes.

– I call for the removal of this authoritarian regime, says challenger Kemal Kiliçdaroglu in Ankara.

When Kiliçdaroglu casts his vote in a polling station in the capital, he says that the election is taking place under particularly difficult circumstances, “with a lot of defamation and slander.”

– But I trust the common sense of the people. There will be democracy, there will be freedom. People will be able to walk the streets and freely criticize politicians, he says.

Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was only a few tenths of a percentage point away from securing victory already in the first round, is voting in Istanbul. There, he says he hopes for a high turnout, like two weeks ago when almost 89 percent of those eligible to vote went and voted.

– I pray to God that it (the election) will be beneficial for our country and nation, says Erdogan.

More than 64 million people have the right to vote in Turkey. The polling stations opened at 8 o’clock local time (7 Swedish time) and closed at 5 p.m. (4 p.m. Swedish time). There won’t be any polling station polls then and there, but a result should be expected within a few hours after the premises have closed.