Closing or prolonging the Erdogan era? Polling stations opened on Sunday (May 28th) at 8am (5 GMT) in Turkey for an unprecedented second round of the presidential election, which pits incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against social democrat Kemal Kilicdaroglu. After voting closes at 17 p.m. (14 GMT), the first results are expected in the early evening.

In Istanbul's residential district of Sisli, Özer Atayolu, a 93-year-old retired engineer, arrived among the first: "I always arrive early to vote first because I believe in democracy and in my responsibility as a citizen," he says, squinting his eyes with mischief that he feels "like a child celebrating".

In Ankara, the capital, Zerrin Alan, 55, said she was "so excited (she) couldn't sleep." "I hope this election won't be rigged," she added.

Two visions of the country, society and governance are available to Turkey's 60 million voters. Stability at the risk of autocracy with the outgoing hyper-president, a 69-year-old Islamo-conservative; or the return to a peaceful democracy, in his words, with his opponent, a 74-year-old former civil servant.

The 49.5% of the vote that Erdogan, a former mayor of Istanbul and a devout Muslim, received in the first round on May 14 demonstrated the broad support he has from a conservative majority, despite inflation. Including in areas devastated by the February 6 earthquake that killed at least 50,000 people and displaced three million people.

Facing him, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the "demokrat dede" - the democratic grandpa - as this trained economist with white hair and thin glasses presents himself, has not been able to capitalize on the serious economic crisis that is weighing down Turkish households and young people. President of the CHP - the party of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the republic - he promised the "return of spring" and the parliamentary regime, the independence of the judiciary and the press.

See also Turkey: on the eve of the second round, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a position of strength

Erdogan favourite

But Kilicdaroglu, with 45% of the vote in the first round, is an outsider: despite the repeated support of the pro-Kurdish HDP, he is credited in the polls with five points behind the head of State who already enjoys a majority in parliament after the legislative elections on 14th May.

Sluggish after the first round, as if stunned not to have won the victory that his camp thought was acquired, Kemal Kilicdaroglu resurfaced after four days, more offensive and less smiling than the humble "Mr. Everybody" of his early campaign. Lacking access to the mainstream media and especially to official television channels, dedicated to the president's campaign, he fought on Twitter when his supporters tried to remobilize voters by going door-to-door in major cities.

At stake were the 8.3 million registered voters who did not turn out on 14 May – despite a turnout of 87%.

Faced with this discreet man of Alevi obedience - a branch of Islam deemed heretical by the ultra Sunnis - Erdogan has multiplied the meetings, relying on the transformations he has been able to bring to the country since his accession to power as Prime Minister in 2003, then as President since 2014.

The date of this second round, however, comes ten years to the day after the beginning of the large "Gezi" demonstrations which, from Istanbul, spread throughout the country. The first wave of anti-Erdogan protests, they were severely repressed.

With AFP

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