Votes cast abroad have surpassed 1.89 million in the second round of Türkiye’s presidential elections as of Thursday, according to the Supreme Election Council (YSK).
Voting at diplomatic missions ended on Wednesday, while the polling will continue at customs gates until 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT) on Sunday.
According to Türkiye's Supreme Election Council, more than 1.89 million people-1,895,430-cast their votes at Türkiye's foreign missions and customs gates as of 10 a.m. local time (0700GMT) on Thursday.
In the May 14 elections, a total of 1,839,470 Turkish citizens abroad went polls to vote in both presidential and parliamentary elections.
The number of voters in the presidential runoff has increased by 55,960 so far.
The voting of Turkish nationals living abroad started at the country’s foreign missions and customs gates on May 20.
Overseas voting ended on Wednesday. After that, those who want to vote at the customs gates can cast ballots until 5 p.m. on May 28. According to the Foreign Ministry, 3,461 ballot boxes were set up for the second round.
Some 1,691,287 voted abroad in the May 14 elections. In the first round of voting, 65% of voters in Germany, home to Türkiye’s largest diaspora, backed the incumbent.
The ballots abroad are brought to Türkiye via diplomatic couriers and methods determined by the YSK under maximum security measures to be kept safe in the capital Ankara.
Both President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu called on the Turkish diaspora to go to polling stations and vote for the second round.
“I ask you to exercise your democratic right by closely following the election dates in your countries,” Erdoğan wrote on Twitter on Friday.
Similarly, Kılıçdaroğlu said it is a “national duty” for Turkish citizens living abroad to vote in the country’s May 28 runoff.
