Turkish voters will head to the polls on May 28, 2023, for the second time in the month – this time facing a choice between a winnowed field of two candidates, each of whom is vowing to take the country in a very different direction.
The fact that the presidential vote has gone to a runoff is no great surprise – polls had predicted that none of the initial candidates would get above the 50% mark needed to be declared the outright winner. Nor is the binary choice in front of voters a shock. Turkish people have long known that the likely option would be between sticking with incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has ruled the country for two decades, or throw their lot in with main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
