Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan currently holds a slender lead over challenger Kemal Kılı&ccedildaroğlu, Sunday evening, but could still face a run-off vote with the social-democrat if he fails to secure an absolute majority of the vote.
Currently, Erdogan leads Kılı&ccedildaroğlu by nearly six points, 50.0% to 44.1%, with Sinan Oğan in a distant third place with 5.3%.
Nearly 86% of the vote has been counted thus far, with Erdogan”s lead shrinking – and moving perilously close to the 50% mark he must retain in order to avoid a second vote.
Nevertheless, political analyst Cengiz Tomar told Al Jazeera that the results thus far have been disappointing for Kılı&ccedildaroğlu”s secularist Republican People’s Party.
“The results so far do not align at all with the sociological make-up of the Turkish people, where 35 percent of them are religious, conservative and on the right, and the remaining 65 percent are secular and Kurdish.”