12/5/2023–|Last updated: 12/5/202303:36 PM (Mecca Time)
The head of the Turkish Supreme Electoral Commission, Ahmed Yanar, announced – today, Friday – that the non-final results of the general and presidential elections scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday, will be announced on the evening of the polling day itself, while Erdogan confirmed that they will start the centenary of Turkey after the elections.
Yanar told Anadolu Agency that the commission will announce the non-final results of the elections on the evening of the voting day itself, as is usual.
He added that the Commission has completed its preparations for the general and presidential elections scheduled for next Sunday, and has taken all measures to maintain the integrity of the voting process.
He pointed out that the upcoming elections represent an important turning point in the history of Turkish democracy, as it witnesses the largest participation of political parties ever.
He pointed out that the authority took all measures related to power outages or electronic attacks during polling and vote counting.
He explained that the authority has completed the distribution of electoral cards to polling stations.
With regard to polling stations in the earthquake zone, Yanar stated that the authority took measures to set up voting boxes inside caravans (prefabricated houses) that were established in the gardens of the schools affected by the earthquake.
He added that the authority will allow voters who left the earthquake zone to vote in the cities where they currently reside.
Next Sunday, Turkey will witness parliamentary and presidential elections, in which current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a candidate for the People’s Alliance, Kamal Kilicdaroglu, a candidate for the Ummah Alliance, and Sinan Ogan, a candidate for the Grandfathers Alliance, will compete.
Erdogan: After the elections, we will start the centenary of Türkiye
On the other hand, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that they will start Turkey’s centennial stage after May 14, the date of the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
In a tweet on Twitter, the Turkish president indicated that, over the past 21 years, they have established the infrastructure in all fields in preparation for the centenary of Turkey.
The Turkish president addressed the people, saying, “As we have done it for 21 years, we will succeed again with your support and prayers.”
Erdogan stressed that they will continue to provide services and investments to Turkey and its cities and to 85 million citizens.
Klejdar accuses Russia and the Kremlin denies
In the context, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the main rival of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish presidential elections, accused Russia of being responsible for publishing false content on social media on the Internet before the vote that will take place on Sunday.
Kilicdaroglu did not specify what content he was referring to.
Yesterday, Thursday, the candidate, Muharrem Ince, withdrew from the presidential race, and attributed the reason to what he described as a “moral assassination” of his person via the Internet, but he did not disclose more details.
Kilicdaroglu accused Turkey’s “Russian friends” of being responsible for “publishing… content using deepfakes.”
He said in a tweet on Twitter yesterday evening, Thursday, in the Turkish and Russian languages, “If you want our friendship to continue after the current May 15, then raise your hands from the Turkish state. We still prefer cooperation and friendship.”
The Kremlin “strongly” denied the accusations made by Kilicdaroglu regarding interference in the Turkish elections.
The Kremlin said today, Friday, that allegations that Russia is interfering in the Turkish presidential elections are false and fabricated by liars.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the people who conveyed such allegations to Kilicdaroglu are liars, and that Russia highly values its relations with Turkey.
Moscow and Ankara have close relations, as Russia is Turkey’s largest energy supplier. Russian President Vladimir Putin holds frequent talks with Erdogan on a number of issues, including energy and the war in Ukraine and Syria.
