(25 May 2023)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4436446
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Istanbul - 22 May 2023
1. Wide street scene and election banners, Turkish flag
HEADLINE: TURKEY TO VOTE AGAIN IN PRESIDENTIAL RACE

2. Mid election banners, Turkish flag
ANNOTATION: Turks will be heading to the polls one more time on May 28.

3. Turkish flags and ruling AK Party flags
ANNOTATION: They’ll be electing their next president in a runoff vote. Two men are vying for the title.

4. Wide Turkish flags and ruling AK Party flags
ANNOTATION: They’ll be electing their next president in a runoff vote. Two men are vying for the title.

5. Wide of an Erdogan billboard on the side of a building
ANNOTATION: The incumbent, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is seeking a third term. He has been in power for 20 years.

6. Close an Erdogan billboard on the side of a building
ANNOTATION: The incumbent, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is seeking a third term. He has been in power for 20 years.

7. Wide of opposition CHP election stand, banners of Kilicdaroglu
ANNOTATION: His challenger is opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who pledges to restore democracy and reverse Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian leanings.

8. Close banners of Kilicdaroglu
ANNOTATION: His challenger is opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who pledges to restore democracy and reverse Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian leanings.

9. Various of opposition and Erdogan billboards
ANNOTATION: Erdogan’s nationalist-Islamist alliance retained its hold on parliament in legislative elections on May 14, increasing his chances for re-election.
ANNOTATION: Kilicdaroglu’s chances of turning the vote around in his favor appear to be slim.

10. Wide of pictures of Kilicdaroglu and Erdogan on a wall
ANNOTATION: Neither candidate secured the majority needed for a first-round victory on May 14.

11. Close of same
ANNOTATION: Neither candidate secured the majority needed for a first-round victory on May 14.

STORYLINE:
Turkey is heading to a runoff vote on May 28th and two men are vying for the presidential post.
 
Neither Turkey’s current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, nor his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, secured the majority needed for a first-round victory on May 14th. 
 
Erdogan received 49.5% of the votes in the first round - just short of the majority needed for an outright victory - compared to Kilicdaroglu’s 44.9%.
 
The two will face off again this Sunday.
 
Erdogan’s ruling AK party and its nationalist and Islamist allies also retained a majority in the 600-seat parliament.

That increases Erdogan’s chances of re-election because voters are likely to vote for him to avoid a splintered government, analysts say.
 
Erdogan has remained in power for 20 years by repeatedly surmounting political crises: mass protests, corruption allegations, an attempted military coup and a huge influx of refugees fleeing Syria's civil war.
 
As May 28 approaches, the Turkish people and economy are being pummelled by sky-high inflation, and many are still recovering from a devastating earthquake in February made worse by the government's slow response.
 
Yet Erdogan — a populist with increasingly authoritarian instincts — enters the runoff election Sunday as the strong favorite against Kilicdaroglu.
.  
Kilicdaroglu, an economist and former member of parliament, is the joint candidate of a six-party coalition alliance.

He is the leader of Turkey’s main opposition party, the CHP, or Republican People’s Party.


But his campaign has struggled to entice Erdogan supporters.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/a0e2518862664335891f48e6cd05091d