Majority of Turkish Expats Vote for President Erdoğan

With around 52 percent, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won the run-off election against his left-wing opponent Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and was elected president of Turkey for the third time in a row. The Turkish diaspora, a majority of which also voted for Erdoğan in the past two presidential elections, likely played a not insignificant role in this.

As our chart based on data from the Turkish Electoral Commission and analysis by the Anadolu Agency shows, almost 60 percent voted for the incumbent in the run-off between Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu. In the first round of voting, the figure was 57 percent. While the majority of Turks living abroad in countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania voted for Kılıçdaroğlu, Turks living in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark predominantly voted for Erdoğan. In North African countries such as Egypt and Morocco, the Turkish president also dominated the electoral scene. In Germany, with a voter turnout of around 50 percent, the Turkish leader received 67 percent of the total 757,000 valid votes.

A 2017 constitutional reform transformed the political system in Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential government. The victory of Erdoğan and the far-right MHP in the referendum required for this is still considered controversial today. Both the opposition at the time and independent election observers regard the vote as fraudulent.