President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is leading in his ancestral hometown Rize with 76.06% support in Türkiye’s historic presidential runoff, preliminary results so far show.
With over 92.84% of the ballot boxes opened in the northwestern city, Erdoğan is comfortably ahead of his challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the joint contender of a six-party opposition bloc, who is lagging at 23.85%.
Rize is a stronghold for Erdoğan, who received 72.79% of the votes in the first leg of the presidential race on May 14, while Kılıçdaroğlu had won only 22.03%.
The runoff vote came after Erdoğan narrowly missed the 50% majority as 2.5 million votes separated him and his opponent in the first round.
Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) too performed well in Rize, winning 53.4% of the vote in parliamentary polls, equaling two lawmakers.
Kılıçdaroğlu’s Republican People's Party (CHP) came out with 21.46% in Rize, winning a seat for one lawmaker.
Overall, the AK Party won 268 seats in the 600-member Parliament by itself and a total of 323 seats for its People’s Alliance, which includes three other parties.
The CHP-led Nation Alliance won 212 seats by receiving 35.02% of the votes.
More than 64 million voters were registered to vote in Sunday’s runoff, with early results showing 84.74% participation rate.
Erdoğan is also leading countrywide with 54.03%, while Kılıçdaroğlu is 45.97%.
