Turkey votes in election runoff, Erdogan well placed to sustain rule

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a rally, ahead of the May 28 presidential runoff vote, in Istanbul, Turkey May 27, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turks voted on Sunday in a presidential runoff that could see Tayyip Erdogan extend his rule into a third decade and persist with Turkey's increasingly authoritarian path, muscular foreign policy and unorthodox economic governance.

Erdogan, 69, defied opinion polls and came out ahead with an almost five-point lead over his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the first round on May 14. But he fell just short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff, in a race with profound consequences for Turkey itself and global geopolitics.