UPDATE Türkiye: Erdogan Achieves 55.8 Pct of the Votes

On Sunday, about 64 million Turkish citizens turn out for a runoff to elect between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kemal Kilicdaroglu, neither of whom got over 50 percent of the vote in the primary round held on May 14. Below are the main events as they happen.

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* President Erdogan wins re-election. With 55.6 percent of the votes counted, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan achieved 55.8 percent of the votes, defeating the Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Kemel Kilicdaroglu, who only reached 44.2 percent of citizen support.

Erdogan "remained the favorite after two decades in power," the French newspaper Liberation commented, adding that the economic crisis, inflation or the earthquake failed to affect public support for the 69-year-old politician.

* The authorities close the polls at 5:00 p.m. local time. After nine hours of remaining open receiving voters, the electoral boards across the country concluded their work.

"The second round of voting is over. So far we have not received any negative information affecting the elections. Requests and complaints about irregularities will be studied," Ahmet Yener, the Election Commission (YSK) chairman, said without disclosing yet data on the percentage of attendance at the polls.

* Opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu is confident of his victory. The leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) voted in Ankara. From the capital of Türkiye, he expressed his hope that the results of this runoff will be favorable for him.

"I invite all citizens to cast their vote... I trust our nation's common sense," Kilicdaroglu said, adding that democracy will definitely prevail in this European country after today's elections.

In the first round, the CHP candidate achieved 44.9 percent of the vote, while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan achieved 49.5 percent of the vote.

* Authorities confirm absence of major incidents on election day. Until after noon on Sunday, the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) indicated to the press that the runoff was proceeding as expected. It also mentioned that the first official results of the presidential elections will be announced starting at 6:00 p.m. local time.

TeleSUR correspondent in Türkiye Yunus Soner reported that Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu are expected to address their supporters after the end of election day.

In the event that President Erdogan emerges victorious, his address to the Turkish people will be made from the balcony of the Presidency in Ankara.