Voting for Presidential and Parliamentary Elections Starts for Turkish Citizens Abroad

Voting for Turkish citizens residing abroad in the parliamentary and presidential elections has begun. More than 3.6 million voters worldwide will have the opportunity to cast their votes on two ballots from April 27 to May 9. Nearly 280,000 of them will express their civic stance in the elections for the first time, according to Российская Газета.

According to the head of Turkey's Supreme Election Council, Ahmet Yener, 156 polling stations have been opened in Turkish diplomatic missions in 75 countries. For the first time, ballot boxes have arrived from Ankara in Belarus, Brazil, Estonia, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Portugal, and several other regions. Additionally, traveling voters are encouraged to support their candidate at border checkpoints, land crossings, and air and sea ports. In total, Turkey's Central Election Commission has opened 4,600 points for citizens crossing the border.

Notably, Germany has become the absolute record holder for the number of expatriates with voting rights from Turkey, with over one and a half million Turkish citizens residing there. The Turkish community in Germany is expected to traditionally favor the current leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and his Justice and Development Party.