Turkey presidential election decides if Erdogan should have five more years

Turks are voting successful a momentous statesmanlike run-off to determine whether oregon not Recep Tayyip Erdogan should stay successful powerfulness aft 20 years.

His challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, backed by a wide absorption alliance, has billed the ballot arsenic a referendum connected Turkey's aboriginal direction.

The president, who is favourite to win, promises a caller epoch uniting the state astir a "Turkish century".

But the much pressing contented is rampant ostentation and a cost-of-living crisis.

Polling stations adjacent astatine 17:00 section clip (15:00 BST). Turkish expats successful Europe and the US person already formed their vote.

Turnout successful the archetypal circular was an awesome 88.8%, and Mr Erdogan's pb was 2.5 cardinal votes. That is wherefore some candidates person their oculus connected the 8 cardinal who did not ballot - but could this time.

Ahead of the run-off Mr Kilicdaroglu accused his rival of foul play, by blocking his substance messages to voters portion the president's messages went through.

Opposition parties are deploying an service of volunteers successful a bid to guarantee nary vote-rigging takes place.

International observers spoke of an uneven playing tract aft the archetypal round. But determination was nary proposition that immoderate irregularities successful voting would person changed the result.

Mr Kilicdaroglu promised a precise antithetic benignant of presidency connected his last time of campaigning: "I person nary involvement successful surviving successful palaces. I volition unrecorded similar you, modestly... and lick your problems."

It was a swipe astatine Mr Erdogan's tremendous palatial analyzable connected the borderline of Ankara which helium moved to erstwhile helium switched from premier curate to president successful 2014. After surviving a failed coup successful 2016 helium took connected extended powers, detained tens of thousands of radical and took power of the media.

So it was laden with symbolism erstwhile helium paid a run sojourn connected Saturday to the mausoleum of a premier curate executed by the subject aft a coup successful 1960.

"The epoch of coups and juntas is over," helium declared, linking Turkey's existent stableness to his ain authoritarian rule.

Turkey, however, is profoundly polarised, with the president reliant connected a enactment basal of spiritual conservatives and nationalists, portion his other number's supporters are chiefly secular - but galore of them are nationalist too.

For days the 2 men traded insults. Mr Kilicdaroglu accused the president of cowardice and hiding from a just election; Mr Erdogan said his rival was connected the broadside of "terrorists", referring to Kurdish militants.

But aft days of inflammatory rhetoric astir sending millions of Syrian refugees home, the absorption campaigner returned to Turkey's number-one contented - the economical crisis, and successful peculiar its effect connected poorer households.

A 59-year-old pistillate and her grandson joined him connected signifier to explicate however her monthly wage of 5,000 lira (£200; $250) was present intolerable to unrecorded connected arsenic her rent had changeable up to 4,000 lira (£160; $200).

It whitethorn person been staged, but this is the communicative crossed Turkey, with ostentation astatine astir 44% and salaries and authorities assistance failing to support pace.

Economists accidental the Erdogan argumentation of cutting involvement rates alternatively than raising them has lone made matters worse.

The Turkish lira has deed grounds lows, request for overseas currency has surged and the cardinal bank's nett overseas currency reserves are successful antagonistic territory for the archetypal clip since 2002.

East of Ankara, gleaming operation blocks person been springing up successful Kirikkale. It looks similar boom-time for this city, tally by the president's party.

But galore radical present are struggling.

Fatma has tally a hairdresser's for 13 years but for the past two, enactment has dried up, and the outgo of rent and hairsbreadth products has soared.

She voted for an ultranationalist campaigner who came third, and does not spot the 2 men near successful the race.

A fewer doors up the street, Binnaz is moving a sewing instrumentality astatine a store for mending clothes.

People cannot spend caller dresses truthful she is earning overmuch more, adjacent if her monthly rent has trebled to to 4,000 lira. Despite Turkey's stricken economy, she is putting her religion successful the president.

Outside a supermarket, Emrah Turgut says helium is besides sticking with Mr Erdogan due to the fact that helium has nary religion successful the different option, and believes the president's unfounded allegations that the biggest absorption enactment co-operates with terrorists.

Turkey's second-biggest absorption party, the HDP, denies immoderate nexus to the militant PKK, but President Erdogan has utilized their backing for the rival campaigner to suggest a nexus to terrorists.

Whoever wins connected Sunday, Turkey's parliament is already firmly successful the grip of Mr Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party and its far-right nationalist ally, the MHP.

The AKP besides has the youngest MP, who arrived successful parliament connected the eve of the statesmanlike vote.

Zehranur Aydemir, 24, believes if helium wins past helium volition laic the foundations for a period successful which Turkey volition go a planetary power: "Now Turkey has a bigger imaginativeness it tin imagination bigger."

It is different grandiose Erdogan project, but Turkey's system is apt to beryllium a much pressing task, whoever wins the run-off.