Best actress at Cannes returns to polarised Turkey on runoff day

FILE PHOTO: Merve Dizdar, Best Actress award winner for her role in the film "Kuru Otlar Ustune" (About Dry Grasses - Les herbes seches), delivers a speech during the closing ceremony of the 76th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 27, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Merve Dizdar, best actress winner at the Cannes Film Festival, returned to Turkey on Sunday and was met both by cheering fans and sharp criticism, highlighting the extreme polarisation in the country.

Dizdar, who delivered an emotional speech on the struggle of women in Turkey upon receiving her prize in Cannes on Saturday, landed in Istanbul in time to cast her vote in the runoff presidential election pitting President Tayyip Erdogan against opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.