Turkey entered the stage of electoral silence at six o'clock in the evening on Saturday, hours before the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for Sunday, which concluded its campaigns with scenes that carry great symbolism.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Republican Alliance's presidential candidate, ended the last day of the election campaign with sunset prayers at the Hagia Sophia mosque, where crowds of worshippers gathered.

Footage on social media platforms showed Erdogan entering the mosque amid the takbeers of worshippers, then sitting in the first row and reciting the openings of Surat al-Baqarah.

In 2020, Erdogan reopened the mosque, a symbol of the conquest of Constantinople in the 15th century, for prayers, in a historic decision after it was converted into a museum in 1934.

Before praying at Hagia Sophia, Erdogan held several public meetings in the neighborhoods of Istanbul, where he addressed crowds in Umraniye, Sanjaktepe, as well as in Kassimpasa, the neighborhood he inhabited in his younger years.

On his way to Hagia Sophia, Erdogan stopped in the Fatih neighborhood, where he visited Hasan Effendi, the sheikh of the Naqshbandi Sufi group Ismail Agha, whose followers in Turkey are estimated to number in the millions. Hasan Effendi took over the sheikhdom of the group after the late Mahmud Effendi.

Erdogan concluded his election campaign with prayers in Hagia Sophia (social media)

Opposition and Biden indicted

In his late remarks before the election silence, the Turkish president accused the opposition of working with US President Joe Biden to oust him, recalling remarks Biden made during his campaign for the White House.

The New York Times published Biden's remarks in January 2020, in which he said that Washington should support Erdogan's opponents until they defeat him.

Cumhurbaşkanımız Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Ayasofya'da konuşuyor..

Allah seni başımızdan eksik etmesin.. pic.twitter.com/ftTkFcleUl

— Marginale (@themarginale) May 13, 2023

In contrast, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Erdogan's main rival and candidate of the Nation Alliance, concluded his campaign with a symbolic visit to the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, described as the founder of modern Turkey, in the capital, Ankara.

Kılıçdaroğlu marched to the shrine in a crowd of young men and girls, then laid flowers at Ataturk's tomb.

In his latest social media activity, Kılıçdaroğlu posted a video in which he said that the "craziest" projects he has prepared for Turkey are democracy and freedom.

Before that, Kılıçdaroğlu held his last public meeting in Ankara on Friday, where he asked his supporters: "Are you ready for democracy in this country? To bring peace to this country? I'm ready myself, I promise."

Kılıçdaroğlu lays flowers on Ataturk's tomb (Anatolia)

Election Day

Turkish voters will go to the polls on Sunday morning to choose a president for a 5-year term and elect the 28th parliament in the history of the republic.

Polling stations open at eight a.m. local time, and voting continues until five o'clock in the evening.

The Supreme Authority for Radio and Television in Turkey prohibits from six on Saturday evening any party propaganda on radio and television stations, and the ban continues until polling day and includes all news related to the election results until nine pm local time (six pm GMT) on Sunday. The exception is what is announced by the High Electoral Commission.

The High Election Commission may lift the ban before nine in the evening, if it deems it necessary.


According to the same authority's decision, it is prohibited to sell and consume alcoholic beverages in public places from six o'clock in the morning of the election day until midnight, and it is also forbidden to carry weapons to other than the security forces and those charged with protecting public security.

The number of citizens who are eligible to vote in these elections is 60 million and 697 thousand and 843 voters, of which 4 million and 904 thousand and 672 voters vote for the first time.

Three candidates are vying for the presidency: the candidate of the "People's Alliance" current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the candidate of the "Nation Alliance" Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, and the candidate of the "Ancestral Alliance" Sinan Ogan.

The fourth candidate, Muharrem Ince, leader of the Balad Party, announced last Thursday that he was withdrawing from the race.