Turkey expected to hold run-off on May 28

ALBAWABA - As over 92 percent of the voting were counted, current results show that Turkey is expected to hold a run-off on May 28.

President Erdogan is still talking the lead as counting is still underway with 49.7 percent while opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu secured 44.6 percent after counting 93.02 percent of the total votes, according to Anadolu Agency reports.

According to Turkish law, if no candidate secures over 50 percent of the votes in the first round of voting, a run-off will be held on May 28.

Supporters of both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), took it to streets across Turkey to show support for their candidate in the presidential elections. People chanted support slogans and held banners and photos of their party leaders.

Erdogan, leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), posted a tweet regarding end of the votes and began of vote counting. He said: "Until the results are final, we continue to protect the will of our nation!"

He added in another post on Sunday: "I congratulate all my citizens who voted in the name of democracy and took part in the election work, and I express my gratitude to each and every one of them."

BBC reported that in Antakya, a city which was mainly affected by the February earthquake, hundreds of buses transported people to vote in other regions in Turkey's parliamentary and presidential elections.

Polls opened on Sunday in Turkey's presidential and parliamentary elections at 8:00 a.m. (5:00 GMT) and shut down at 5:00 p.m. as vote counting began shortly after the closure of poll stations.

About 61 million people, including more than 3.4 million expatriates, were eligible to vote in the Turkish elections, local media reported Sunday.

Days before the elections, presidential candidate Muharrem İnce, a Turkish physics teacher, school principal, sport executive, and politician, announced his withdrawal.