Erdogan’s leadership faces big test as Turkey votes

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan casts a ballot on Sunday

Turkey and much of the world waited on Sunday to learn if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan survived the strongest electoral challenge of his two decades leading the NATO member country, which has grappled with economic turmoil and the erosion of democratic checks-and-balances in recent years.

Polls closed in the late afternoon after nine hours of voting in the national election that could grant Erdogan, 69, another five-year term or see him unseated by the leader of an invigorated opposition, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who campaigned on a promise to return Turkey to a more democratic path.

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If no candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the vote, the winner will be determined in a May 28 run-off. Opinion surveys indicated the increasingly authoritarian Erdogan entered his bid for reelection trailing a challenger for the first time. Erdogan has ruled Turkey as prime minister or president since 2003.

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