Expat voting in 51 countries ends for Turkish elections

ANKARA

Voting in Turkey is set to start on June 24, but for expat Turkish citizens voting abroad, the polls are nearly closed.

In 51 countries the period for expats to vote in Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections has ended, while nine other countries will see the polls close later Tuesday. Voting at some customs gates will end at 9 pm local time on June 24, Election Day.

So far nearly 177,000 people have gone to the polls at 90 foreign missions in 51 countries: the U.S., Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrein, the United Arab Emirates, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Algeria, the Czech Republic, China, Finland, South Africa, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Ireland, Spain, Israel, Sweden, Italy, Japan, Canada, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Hungary, Macedonia, Malta, Egypt, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Oman, Jordan, New Zealand, and Greece.

Voting in 33 foreign missions in nine countries -- Germany, Austria, Belgium, the U.K., Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Norway -- will end at 9 pm local time Tuesday.

According to unofficial Supreme Board of Election (YSK) figures, turnout in all 60 countries has reached 41 percent.

The figures show that some 1.26 million out of 3 million registered Turkish voters abroad have gone to the polls so far.

In Turkey, voters will go to the polls on June 24 -- less than a week away.

Six candidates are running for president, while eight political parties are taking part in the parliamentary elections.

If the presidential election goes to a second round, then voters will go to the polls again one of the following Sundays.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has served as president since 2014 -- Turkey's first popularly elected president. Before that, he served as prime minister from 2003 to 2014. If reelected on Sunday, he would be Turkey's first president under its new presidential system of government.

Reporting by Hamdi Celikbas:Writing by Nilay Kar