About 53 million Turks will vote today to elect the next president of the country. This is the first election in which the president will be elected by popular vote, following a constitutional amendment in 2007.

Despite the fact that Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the favorite, his opponents claim that they are ready for a dynamic electoral battle. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu was fielded as a joint candidate for the two largest opposition parties, centre-left People’s Republican Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), while Selahattin Demirtas is the third candidate, co-chairman of the Kurdish nationalist People’s Democratic Party (HDP).

However, Erdogan often using the slogan “A new Turkey” during his campaign is expected to win the vote of the Turks, promising them that he will continue to serve the country from his new position.

Members of the ruling party AK seem to be confident for the victory claiming that it would be difficult to have a second round of elections, which, if necessary, will be held within a month.

According to the polls conducted, Erdogan is expected to gather over 55%, so if the polls are confirmed then a second round will not be necessary.
By winning the presidency of Turkey, Erdogan aims to control the National Security Council, the armed forces, but also the selection of Supreme Court judges, despite the corruption scandal that shocked the Turkish government concerning the bribery of members of his party, in which Erdogan’s son was also involved and led to the resignation of ministers and a wider reshuffle.

Meanwhile, the bloody incidents occurred in Istanbul resulting in the tragic death of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan, the Twitter ban and the rumours about Erdogan having an affair with a charming journalist seemed to be enough incidents so that Erdogan’s image would be negatively affected.

However, the 60-year-old politician managed to survive and save his position doing what he knows very well: to strongly attack. One of his main target was his number one enemy, the spiritual leader Fethullah Gülen who lives in US, accusing him for attempting a coup d’ etat, while he also ordered an investigation and asked USA to extradite him.