At 5 a.m. Greek time, the polls for the presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey close, while after 6 a.m. the results will begin to flow, according to the laws in force in the neighboring state.

Nearly 65 million Turks are voting for the next five years, with interest centering on the battle between incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the head of a coalition of opposition parties, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

As reported by SKAI’s correspondent in Istanbul, Manolis Kostidis, the participation of Turkish citizens in the electoral process is expected to reach or even exceed 90%.

What did the latest polls show?

The last poll before the polls showed a lead of 49.1% Kilicdaroglu – 46.9% Erdogan

Late in the evening, however, it is expected to have clarified whether a second round of the presidential elections will need to be held.

However, there are concerns that violent incidents may break out in Turkish cities, after a series of events in the final stretch of the highly polarized election campaign.

Today’s parliamentary and presidential elections decide not only who will govern Turkey, a NATO member state and – at least in theory – a candidate state for EU membership, but also how it will govern, the development of the economy, amid a crisis that has increased steeply the cost of living, as well as its foreign policy, which was marked by several rather unpredictable turns.

Four candidates on the ballot

There are four candidates on the ballots for the presidential elections.

Turkish elections

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 69, in power for 20 years, is running for re-election. He is the candidate of the Islamic conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP).

His main opponent is Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP, social democratic, founded by Mustafa Kemal in the ruins of the Ottoman Empire). The 74-year-old former civil servant is the candidate of the National Alliance, a motley coalition of six factions, which range from the nationalist right to the liberal center-left through political Islam.

Sinan Ogan, a former far-right MP, is also a candidate, but the latest polls give him only 5% of the vote.

The fourth is Muharrem Ince, who withdrew his candidacy on Thursday, but it was too late to withdraw his name from the ballot papers.

If no candidate secures a majority today, a second round will be held on May 28.

Erdogan: Give money to children – Let’s have a profitable future, he declared

On Sunday morning, Recep Tayyip Erdogan voted in a high school in Istanbul, in the most critical elections in Turkey in recent decades.

The Turkish president, along with his wife, Emine, subversively waited their turn outside the polling station while the cameras recorded them.

In a… spontaneous act of love, the philanthropic Turkish president talks to children, to whom he hands out Turkish liras.

The president of Turkey, after casting his vote, thanked the members of the polling station for the process and then made statements to reporters.

“A profitable future” for the country and its democracy was wished by the outgoing president, however speaking somewhat slowly and subdued. “It is important that all voters vote smoothly until 5 p.m. to show the strength of Turkish democracy,” Erdogan said without making a prediction for his victory.

Kilicdaroglou: Democracy was missed by all of us

The leader of the Republican People’s Party (PLK) of Turkey and candidate for the presidency of the country, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, came to a primary school in Ankara a little while ago in order to exercise his right to vote.

Mr. Kilicdaroglou arrived at the school accompanied by his personal guard and his wife, while a large crowd had gathered at the polling station.

“We all missed democracy. We missed being together, hugging each other. You will see, spring will return to this country, God willing, and it will last forever,” said the opposition candidate after his vote

Kilicdaroglu appeared very smiling and greeted the members of the election commission by shaking hands.

Kilicdaroglu then posed for the customary photo in front of the ballot box.