The citizens of Turkey have voted, the votes are being counted. What at stake is the authoritarian rule of a antisemite Jew and Israel hater. Also a coddler to Putin and against America’s role in Syria. Erdogan calls them the enemy. Additionally, NATO has to lay down the law that Turkey’s  membership is at stake. His opponents are for a free Turkey without political interference in the defense forces, the police and local henchmen.

With reporting from Paul Kirby and Orla Guerin in Ankara, Jonny Dymond in Istanbul and Anna Foster in Hatay province

Summary

1. Counting is under way in Turkey with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan facing a tough challenge after 20 years in power
2. Six opposition parties have combined forces, picking opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu as their unity candidate
3. Early numbers are being released, with claim and counter-claim about who is ahead
4. The state news agency Anadolu has Erdogan in the lead, after 52% of the votes being counted
5. But Ankara’s mayor, from the opposition CHP, says his party’s figures put Kilicdaroglu ahead
6. This vote comes against the background of soaring inflation and the aftermath of devastating earthquakes
7. If either man can secure half the presidential vote, they will be crowned winner – failing that, the race will go to a run-off
8. Candidates for a 600-seat parliament are also being selected

   1. 1. Both sides claim to be ahead – and want to keep hold of the narrative

         

         Jonny Dymond

         Reporting from Istanbul

         Both the governing AK Party and the opposition say they are ahead. They can’t both be right. But in one sense, it’s not even important – there are still lot of votes to be counted and the ones that have been counted so far may not be a fair representation of the overall vote.

         So why the claim and counter-claim?

         Both sides want to keep hold of the narrative in a country where recently election counts have been challenged – or the reporting of the numbers has simply stopped when it went against the governing party.

         And the opposition wants to make sure that its observers stay at the polling stations keeping an eye on the count – if they think the night is lost, they might be tempted to drift away.

         The body language of the opposition spokesmen is pretty relaxed and pretty confident. They are either good actors or they truly believe that their man Kemal Kilicdaroglu is in with a shout.

   1. Posted at 15:0415:04

      Results from three big cities might have a dramatic effect

      As the counting of the votes continues in Turkey, votes from the three biggest cities – Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir – might change the result of the elections.

      So far, more than 60% of the votes all around the country have been counted and Recep Tayyip Erdogan is ahead.

      But many of the votes in the largest cities have yet to be counted.

      Istanbul has a population of 16 million, while the capital, Ankara, and the western city of Izmir have a combined population of 10 million, and in all three only half the votes have been counted.

      In Izmir and Istanbul so far, Kemal Kilicdaroglu seems ahead, while in Ankara, Erdogan is narrowly in the lead.

      Izmir is a stronghold of the opposition CHP, and the party has increased its support in Istanbul and Ankara dramatically since the 2015 elections.

      Ankara’s mayor has said Kilicdaroglu will win when the results from these three major cities come in.