Turkish parties and alliances continue their preparations for the run-off presidential elections, scheduled for next Sunday, to choose a president for the country, after none of the candidates obtained a majority of "half plus one" in the first round.
The rival camps called on Turkish voters to head to the polls to vote massively in this crucial round.
While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems comfortable with his first-round points difference, rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is ramping up his rhetoric on a number of issues, most notably refugees, to win more votes.
Outdoor Voices
In a related context, the High Election Commission received the votes of Turks abroad, which amounted to more than one million and 800 thousand votes.
Voting abroad ended on May 24, with voting continuing at border crossings and airports until Sunday evening.
Official local media confirmed the arrival of one million and 783 thousand 107 electoral cards from outside Turkey, to the airport of the capital, Ankara, on Friday morning, within the scope of the second round of the presidential elections.
The media said that after the completion of voting procedures abroad, the electoral cards were brought to Turkey by 3 planes that were chartered for that purpose.
The planes began arriving successively, starting on Thursday evening, until dawn on Friday.
The votes of overseas voters are scheduled to be stored until five o'clock in the evening on May 28, to be counted simultaneously with the rest of the electoral votes, when the voting process is completed across the country.
Erdogan's remarks
Turkish President and Public Alliance candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the Turkish people to gather at the boxes and vote for him en masse.
Erdogan added that his election to a new round guarantees what he called "a strong and great Turkey," stressing the importance of the decision that citizens will take Sunday in the second round of presidential elections for the future of their country and their children.
"Next Sunday we will go back to the polls, and maybe we will make one of the most important choices in our lives, not only about ourselves, but also about the future of our country and our children," he said in a speech on the sidelines of a feminist forum held by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Friday at the Istanbul Convention Center.
For his part, CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu denied what he called the ruling party's accusations of links to terrorist organizations, referring to the PKK.
Kılıçdaroğlu said that what is being issued in this regard is nothing but a fabrication, as he described it.
Salahuddin Demirtaş's statements
For his part, Kurdish leader and former HDP leader Selahattin Demirtaş called on his supporters to vote massively for CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
In a tweet posted on his official Twitter page, Demirtaş warned that if change is not achieved through the Fund in the run-off elections next Sunday, the country's economy and democracy will be facing a real disaster.
Resignations from the Turkish Nail Party
On the other hand, the head of the Turkish Victory Party in the "Ala Sehir" region of the western state of Manisa announced his resignation along with 30 members of the party, after the party's president, Ümit Özdağ, announced his support for the opposition alliance candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, in the second round of the presidential elections.
The head of the Turkish Zafar Party in Al-Shahir, Suleyman Shah, said in his resignation letter - on Thursday evening - that he decided to follow the same path as their former candidate Sinan Ogan, and support President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the second round of the upcoming presidential elections.
Suleyman Shah announced he was joining the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), led by Erdogan's ally Devlet Bahceli, stressing that it was "a great honor for him to continue supporting Sinan Ogan instead of remaining in an alliance backed by terrorist organizations."
Ali Oçak, a prominent leader of the Nationalist Movement and former mayor of Al-Shahehir, welcomed the newcomers from the Zafar Party during an official ceremony, saying in his speech that those who are on the right path do not deviate from the path, and that those who aim to move forward do not look back.
On May 14, Turkey witnessed presidential and parliamentary elections, with the People's Alliance candidate President Erdogan, the People's Alliance candidate Republican People's Party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, and the ATA (ancestral) alliance candidate Sinan Oğan.
Turkey's High Election Board officially announced that the second round of presidential elections between Erdogan and Kılıçdaroğlu would be held on May 28, with no candidate receiving more than 50 percent of the vote.
Erdogan received 49.51% of the vote, while Kılıçdaroğlu received 44.88%, and Sinan Ogan 5.17%, according to the final results announced by the High Election Commission.