Turkish expatriates around the world continued to cast their votes over weekend in the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Fatma Ceren Yazgan, Turkey's ambassador to Georgia, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that voting began at 9:00 a.m. local time (5:00 p.m. GMT) at the Turkish embassy in Tbilisi and Batum.
"We have 920 voters in Tbilisi and 881 in Batum," Yazgan said, adding that Turkish citizens would also be able to vote at the Sarp Border Gate.
The Turkish expats in Azerbaijan began casting their votes at 8 a.m. local time (4 a.m. GMT) at the Turkish embassy in Baku and consulates in Nakhchivan and Ganja. There are 5,209 eligible voters in Azerbaijan.More than three million Turkish expatriates worldwide are expected to take part in the overseas vote at more than 100 polling stations - most of which are located in Turkish embassies and consulates - in 60 countries.
In Uzbekistan, the voting started at 9:00 a.m. local time (4 p.m. GMT) in Turkey's embassy in Tashkent that will continue until 9:00 p.m. (4 p.m. GMT).
The voting also started in Irbil, the administrative capital of northern Iraq's Kurdish region, yesterday.
Speaking to AA, Turkey's Consul General in Erbil Hakan Karaçay said nearly 2,500 Turkish expats were eligible to vote in the region. In Hungary, approximately 2,000 registered voters can cast their votes at Turkey's Budapest Embassy building until 09.00 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) yesterday.High turnout is also expected form expats living in Middle Eastern countries.
Turkish expatriates in Egypt cast their votes yesterday. The Turkish consulate in Cairo saw Turkish citizens waiting in a long line to vote. The voting started at the Turkish consulates in Cairo and Alexandria provinces at 9:00 a.m. local time (7:00 a.m. GMT) and it will end at 9:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. GMT). Turkish people residing in Jordan also went to the polls yesterday at the Turkish Embassy in Amman.
A total of 1,943 out of around 2,500 Turkish citizens living in Jordan are on the voter list, according to figures given by the Turkish embassy.
İrfan Neziroğlu, Turkey's ambassador to Sudan, told AA that voting had begun at 9:00 a.m. local time at the Turkish Embassy in Khartoum.
"Turkish expatriates have two days to vote, during which time we expect some 900 people to cast ballots," Neziroğlu said.
Turkey's embassy in Qatari capital Doha opened its doors to voters at 9:00 a.m. local time. Predicting high voter turnout, Turkish Ambassador to Qatar Fikret Özer told AA that the small Arab Gulf state was home to about 3,000 Turkish registered voters.
In the Lebanese capital Beirut, meanwhile, hundreds of Turkish voters turned out to vote Saturday morning. Bilal Fattah, a Turkish electoral official in Beirut, predicted that roughly 1,500 out of almost 5,000 Turkish registered voters would cast ballots. "This is the third time I have taken part in elections at the embassy," Muhammed, a Turkish national who lives in Beirut, told Anadolu Agency.
"It's my national duty; it will determine the fate of my country," he said.
COMPILED FROM WIRES