From April 27, Turks living abroad can cast their votes for the parliamentary and presidential elections in May. You are traditionally a strong support of the incumbent President Erdogan in Turkey’s elections.
The Turkey elections at the border crossings and abroad begin on April 27 and end on May 9, the electoral authority YSK announced on Tuesday. This is likely to affect Austria as well, although the YSK statement states that “the data may vary from country to country”. In Turkey itself, there will only be elections on May 14th.
Three million Turks abroad in Europe can vote in Turkey’s election
If no candidate achieves an absolute majority of votes in the presidential election, there will be a runoff on May 28th. In this case, Turkish citizens abroad can vote between May 20 and 24, according to the YSK. The three million Turks living in other European countries are traditionally seen as a strong support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan has to tremble for a majority in Turkey’s election
In this year’s elections, Erdogan, who has been in power for 20 years, desperately needs the support of the Turks abroad, since according to polls he has to fear for the victory for the first time. Last week, an alliance of six parties put up opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu (74) as an opposing candidate. Smaller parties also want to register candidates. It is still unclear whether the important pro-Kurdish party HDP will put forward its own candidate or whether it will do so in favor of Kilicdaroglu.
Both Erdogan’s conservative Islamic governing party, the AKP, and Kilicdaroglu’s center-left CHP, are running in alliances with other parties for the parliamentary elections. The most important partner for Erdogan is the ultra-nationalist MHP, for Kilicdaroglu the national-conservative Iyi party.
Around 49 percent participation of Turks abroad in Austria in the 2018 Turkey election
In the presidential elections in June 2018, Erdogan achieved an above-average result among the Turks living abroad in Austria. While he prevailed in Turkey with 52.6 percent, in Austria he received 72.3 percent of the valid votes. Only in Belgium (74.9 percent) and the Netherlands (73 percent) did Erdogan achieve even better results, in Germany he achieved 64.8 percent. Overall, the Turks abroad voted for the incumbent with 59.4 percent.
In the 2018 election, 106,657 Turks living abroad were entitled to vote in Austria. Almost 49 percent of them took part in the ballot. In the parliamentary elections held at the same time, the AKP gained 62.5 percent in Austria, with the pro-Kurdish HDP coming in second with 11.8 percent. It was possible to vote in the consulates in Vienna, Salzburg and Bregenz.
Source : vienna.at
