Cincunri Sakia: Mei 2023

Rabu, 31 Mei 2023

Kosovo clashes: NATO-led troops put up barbed wire barriers after protests in northern towns - Sky News

NATO-led peacekeeping troops have put up metal fences and barbed wire barriers in a northern town in Kosovo after clashes with ethnic Serbs left 30 international soldiers injured.

The barriers have been erected after hundreds of ethnic Serbs started gathering in front of the city hall in Zvecan, a northern Kosovo town 28 miles north of the capital Pristina.

NATO has decided to send 700 more troops to northern Kosovo to help quell violent protests after the clashes on Monday.

Violence initially broke out in the north of the country over the weekend after ethnic Albanian mayors were installed in Serbian-dominated areas.

They were elected in a vote overwhelmingly boycotted by Serbs.

Some in the country have since made repeated efforts to take over the offices in Zvecan, where the mayors took up their posts.

Kosovo police fired tear gas to disperse Serbs who tried to block officials from entering municipal buildings in the town last week.

This has lead to clashes with NATO-led troops that left 30 international soldiers injured.

A statement on Tuesday by the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) said 30 soldiers - 11 Italians and 19 Hungarians - "sustained multiple injuries, including fractures and burns from improvised explosive incendiary devices".

Three Hungarian soldiers were "wounded by the use of firearms," but their injuries were not life-threatening, the statement added.

Serbia's president Aleksandar Vucic has said 52 ethnic Serbs have been injured in the clashes.

Meanwhile, ethnic Serbs have insisted that both ethnic Albanian mayors and Kosovo police must leave northern Kosovo.

Serbia has put its military on the highest state of alert and sent more troops to the border with the country.

A former province of Serbia, Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence is not recognised by Belgrade.

Ethnic Albanians make up most of the population of Kosovo, but the country has a restive Serbian minority in the north of the country.

NATO's secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg has condemned the violence in Kosovo, saying that "such attacks are unacceptable and must stop".

He warned that NATO troops "will take all necessary actions to maintain a safe and secure environment for all citizens in Kosovo".

He urged both sides to take steps to de-escalate, refrain from "further irresponsible behaviour" and to return to EU-backed talks on improving relations.

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2023-05-31 08:25:12Z
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How Russia is expected to react to the drone attack on Moscow - The Independent

Russia suffered a surprise attack in the early hours of Tuesday morning when as many as 30 drones zeroed in on Moscow, bringing Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine war to his own doorstep after 15 months of bloody conflict.

The country’s defence ministry has only admitted to sighting eight drones, all of which it says were shot down, causing only minimal damage and injuring just two people.

Even if that is true, the incident follows an assault on the Kremlin earlier this month and creates a problem for Mr Putin, who has so far largely been able to shield Russian citizens from the realities of the war.

Life has been allowed to proceed as normal in the capital but the sight of debris hitting some of the city’s most prestigious areas – including the grand Soviet-era Leninsky Prospekt Avenue and the Odintsovsky District, in which the wealthy elite, including Mr Putin, have residences – cannot have gone unnoticed.

Residents in southwestern Moscow reported hearing loud bangs at between 2am and 3am BST on Tuesday morning, followed by the smell of petrol, while some filmed the unmanned devices being downed in smoke over the city skyline.

“It is, of course, obvious that this is an attack by the Kyiv regime,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “And this must be absolutely clearly understood.”

Kyiv has itself been under siege from drone strikes by the aggressor in recent days, but Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denied his side was behind the attack, adding drolly: “Of course, we are pleased to watch and predict an increase in the number of attacks.”

Mr Putin is said to have been briefed early on Tuesday about the strikes and continued working in the Kremlin, later saying only that the episode was intended to “intimidate” and “clearly a sign of terrorist activity”.

He will surely respond militarily, even if his initial instinct is to downplay the extent of the damage.

Writing on Telegram, Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said the president’s eerie calm was about projecting the impression that he “isn’t afraid” because his control is “built on the idea that has been voiced more than once … [that Russians are] a patient people who will understand everything and endure everything”.

Mr Putin has so far left much of the sabre-rattling following the attack to others, such as lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein, who warned his countrymen: “The sabotage and terrorist attacks of Ukraine will only increase. It is necessary to radically strengthen defence and security measures, especially in terms of countering drones.”

Another politician, Andrei Kartapolov, told local media the attack was a Ukrainian endeavour “designed to create a wave of panic”.

Aftermath of Moscow drone attack

(Telegram)

Speaking to The Independent, Tim White, a Ukraine expert and journalist, commented: “Putin’s only response is violence, we’ve seen it time and time again.

“The problem is how much of his arsenal is left? I strongly suspect there was another large shipment of drones from Iran recently, hence the big uptick in drone strikes.

“But I believe this tactic is primarily to locate Ukraine’s air defence systems, especially its Patriot [missile] systems, and get Ukraine to exhaust its own air defence missile stocks. The Kremlin is not able to manufacture missiles as quickly as it is using them.”

Among the residents of Moscow, the episode is likely only to entrench existing attitudes towards the war, Mr White said, noting the stranglehold exerted by state media.

“I think opinion in Russia will be even more anti-Western rather than anti-Putin,” he said.

“The absolute control of the media ensures most people believe the indoctrination, wrongfully describing Ukraine as a nation of Nazis.”

That observation has already been borne out, with one woman, Natalia, 59, telling news agency Reuters: “The Kyiv regime is already crossing all the lines. This is very sad, especially since they are directing these drones at residential buildings, at the city, at civilians, where there are no military facilities.”

More surprisingly, another resident told the same outlet: “All of this is because of our ruler. It’s no surprise it’s bounced back to here.”

As for what might happen next, Mr White is in little doubt that there will be a retaliation, perhaps targeting a region the Kremlin had expected to welcome its “special military operation” with open arms.

“My best guess is that there will be a strike on a city, masquerading as a military hit, with what we describe as ‘plausible deniability’,” he said.

“But it won’t be Kyiv, which is too well protected judging by the last month’s bombardment. Lviv is a target, but more at risk is likely to be Odesa or Mykolaiv in the south. These are areas that previously spoke almost exclusively Russian and Putin believed would welcome his illegal invasion.”

The Russian foreign ministry has already made threats to that effect, declaring: “Russia reserves the right to take the harshest possible measures in response to the terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime.”

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2023-05-31 07:55:32Z
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North Korea says spy satellite launch crashed into sea - BBC

A handout picture shows what is believed to be a part of a space launch vehicle that North Korea said crashed into the sea

By Jean Mackenzie in Seoul & Oliver Slow in London

BBC News

North Korea has said an accident happened as it planned to send up its first space satellite, causing it to crash into the sea.

Pyongyang announced earlier it planned to launch a satellite by 11 June to monitor US military activities.

It now says it will attempt a second launch as soon as possible.

The launch sparked a false alarm in the South Korean capital Seoul, while in Japan a warning was issued to residents of Okinawa, in the south.

There was chaos and confusion in Seoul as people awoke to the sound of an air raid siren and an emergency message telling them to prepare for an evacuation - only to be told 20 minutes later it had been sent in error.

The stakes are high on the Korean Peninsula, where tensions have existed between the two countries for 70 years, and this false alarm could seriously damage people's trust in the alert system.

North Korea poses a threat to South Korea, and if there is an alert in the future one question being asked is whether it will be taken seriously, or brushed off as another mistake.

Kim, a 33-year-old mother living in Seoul, told the BBC she was "very scared" when she received the emergency alert and started packing her bags to evacuate.

"I didn't believe there would be a war, but after the war in Ukraine it made me think that North Korea or China might invade [South] Korea," she said, adding she thought Pyongyang had "lost its mind" and launched an invasion.

In a press conference, Seoul mayor Oh Se-hoon acknowledged the emergency text "may have been an overreaction" but said "there can be no compromise on safety".

He said the city would improve its warning system to avoid confusion, AFP news agency reports.

South Korea's military said the rocket might have broken up in mid-air or crashed after it vanished from radar early. It released pictures of wreckage found in the sea.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said North Korea appeared to have fired a ballistic missile and that the government was analysing the details.

He added that there were currently no reports of damage following the launch. Japan said previously it was ready to shoot down anything that threatened its territory.

On Tuesday, Ri Pyong Chol, vice-chairman of North Korea's ruling party's central military commission, announced the launch plan, saying it was in response to "reckless military acts" by the US and South Korea.

He accused the countries of "openly revealing their reckless ambition for aggression".

The United States joined South Korea and Japan in condemning the launch, calling it a "brazen violation" of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

"The door has not closed on diplomacy but Pyongyang must immediately cease its provocative actions and instead choose engagement," said Adam Hodge, National Security spokesman.

He added that the US will take "all necessary measures" to protect itself and its allies.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres also condemned the move, saying any launch by Pyongyang using ballistic missile technology was "contrary" to the relevant security council resolutions.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has identified the development of military satellites as a key component of his country's defence.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said the North Korean government "likely sees itself in a space race", and that whether or not its current satellite mission is a success it "can be expected to issue political propaganda about its space capabilities".

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Selasa, 30 Mei 2023

Vladimir Putin vows retaliation for drone attack on Moscow - Financial Times

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2023-05-30 15:46:40Z
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Japan government under renewed pressure to end same-sex marriage ban - The Guardian

Pressure is building on Japan’s government to legalise same-sex unions after a court ruled that a ban on them was unconstitutional.

Rights advocates said the ruling on Tuesday by Nagoya district court was a step forward in the campaign to end Japan’s status as the only G7 country not to fully recognise same-sex unions.

It is the second time a court in Japan has ruled the ban unconstitutional, while two other courts have decreed the ban is in line with the postwar constitution, which defines marriage as based on “the mutual consent of both sexes”.

But the Nagoya court, ruling on a lawsuit filed by two men who are in a relationship, rejected the couple’s demand that the state pay each of them 1m yen (£5,715) in compensation for denying them the right to marry.

“This ruling has rescued us from the hurt of last year’s ruling that said there was nothing wrong with the ban, and the hurt of what the government keeps saying,” the couple’s lawyer, Yoko Mizushima, told journalists and supporters outside the court.

Mizushima was referring to a ruling in Osaka last year that the ban was not unconstitutional. A court in Tokyo later reached a similar conclusion but said the lack of legal protection for same-sex families violated their human rights.

While the courts cannot compel the government to act, the latest ruling is expected to reignite the debate over same-sex unions, less than a fortnight after it submitted an LGBTQ+ rights bill designed to avert criticism ahead of the G7 leaders’ summit in Hiroshima.

The government had promised to pass a law to promote “understanding” of LGBTQ+ people before the G7, but opposition from conservatives in the ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) forced it to submit a watered-down bill the day before the summit began.

The bill initially said “discrimination is unacceptable” but now says that “unfair discrimination” should not be tolerated – wording that campaigners said had rendered the legislation meaningless.

While lifting the ban on same-sex unions is opposed by “family values” conservatives in the LDP, opinion polls show public support for same-sex marriage as high as 70%.

More than 300 municipalities in Japan allow same-sex couples to enter partnership agreements – covering about 65% of the population – but their rights are limited.

Same-sex couples are unable to inherit their partner’s assets – such as the house they may have shared – and have no parental rights to any children their partners may have. Hospital visits are often possible only at the discretion of medical staff.

The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has provoked anger by claiming that Japan’s ban on same-sex marriage was “not discriminatory” and that legalising it would “fundamentally change society” and challenge so-called traditional family values.

In February, he sacked a senior aide who said he “would not want to live next door” to an LGBTQ+ couple and did “not even want to look at them”.

Agencies contributed reporting

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2023-05-30 13:01:00Z
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Ten people killed after 'overloaded' bus falls into gorge in India - Sky News

At least 10 people were killed and 55 injured when a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims fell into a gorge in India.

The bus skidded off a bridge and fell into a Himalayan gorge near the city of Jammu in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Tuesday.

It was travelling to the town of Katra from Amritsar in the northern state of Punjab.

Those killed were from India's eastern Bihar state, police said.

Officer Chandan Kohli told reporters the bus was overloaded.

The passengers were visiting the shrine of Vaishno Devi in Katra, which is highly revered by Hindus. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims visit it every year.

India has one of the highest road death rates in the world, with thousands of people killed and injured annually.

Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and old vehicles.

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2023-05-30 08:07:53Z
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Russia-Ukraine war latest: Moscow hit by rare drone attack - The Telegraph

Moscow has been hit by a rare drone attack after Russia launched a fresh wave of strikes on Kyiv early on Tuesday.

Drones struck several buildings in Moscow, with air defence systems destroying many on their approach to the Russian capital, Russian officials said.

"This morning, at dawn, a drone attack caused minor damage to several buildings. All the city's emergency services are on the scene ... No one has been seriously injured so far," Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

Meanwhile, at least one person was killed and four others were injured in an apartment fire as Russia carried out its third drone attack on Kyiv in 24 hours.

Ukrainian defence forces shot down more than 20 Iranian-made Shahed drones. Air raid sirens blared in several regions as falling debris hit multiple districts of Kyiv, including the historic Podil and Pecherskyi neighbourhoods.

"A massive attack!" Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram app. "Do not leave shelters."

Follow the latest updates below.

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2023-05-30 08:31:34Z
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Four dead after boat overturns on Italy's Lake Maggiore - The Local Italy

The boat tipped over on Sunday evening off Lisanza, at the southern end of the lake in northern Italy, after the weather suddenly turned stormy.

"The bodies of four people have been recovered," fire brigade spokesman Luca Cari told AFP.

Israel's foreign ministry said one of the dead was a former member of the country's security forces in his fifties.

Two others were Italian, a 62-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman who both worked in the intelligence services, Italy's security services said.

"The two employees, belonging to the intelligence department, were taking part in a convivial meeting organised to celebrate the birthday of one of the group," it said.

Media reports said the fourth victim was a 50-year-old Russian woman, the partner of the boat's captain.

President of the Lombardy region Attilio Fontana said on Sunday a "whirlwind" had caused the 16-metre-long boat to overturn.

Firefighters on Sunday said 19 people had survived the accident, with media reports suggesting some had been picked up by passing boats while others swam to shore.

The boat had been carrying both Italian and foreign tourists, and it sank quickly, taking one of the victims with it, according to reports.

A firefighters' video showed a search and rescue helicopter flying over choppy waters, where chairs and other debris could be seen floating.

Lake Maggiore, which lies on the south side of the Alps, is the second largest lake in Italy and a popular tourist destination.

Initial reports that some of the tourists involved were British were denied by an embassy official.

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2023-05-30 07:53:13Z
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Senin, 29 Mei 2023

Ukraine war: General Kyrylo Budanov promises revenge after latest Kyiv attack - BBC

Police officers stand next to missile debris in Kyiv

By James Landale in Kyiv and Laura Gozzi in London

BBC News

The head of Ukraine's military intelligence has warned of a swift response to a series of Russian daytime missile strikes on Kyiv.

General Kyrylo Budanov said Monday's attacks failed to intimidate people in the capital who just got on with life.

All the missiles were shot down, officials said, and there were no reports of casualties.

However flaming debris from the intercepted missiles landed in residential areas in central Kyiv.

Monday's attack followed two nights of heavy drone strikes, the latest in some 16 air attacks on the Ukrainian capital this month.

The latest was unusual because it came during the day and seemed targeted at the city centre, whereas other strikes on Kyiv in May have been at night and directed at key infrastructure or air defences on the outskirts.

Gen Budanov said he wanted to "upset" Russia's supporters by letting them know people in Kyiv were undeterred by the attack and had continued working after it.

"All those who tried to intimidate us, dreaming that it would have some effect, you will regret it very soon," he added in a statement published by Ukraine's intelligence ministry. "Our answer will not be long."

According to reports, only one person was injured and all missiles were destroyed by Ukrainian air defences. Russian authorities claimed all their targets had been hit.

Air raid sirens reportedly also rang out across several other Ukrainian regions.

Local military commanders in Kyiv accused Russia of changing its tactics and deliberately targeting the civilian population. It certainly appears that Moscow wants to step up its pressure on Ukraine even further ahead of any counter-offensive.

Kyiv residents take shelter in a metro station

Oleksandr Scherba, ambassador-at-large at Ukraine's ministry of foreign affairs, told the BBC that the last few days had been very difficult for Kyiv residents.

"Almost every night, the skies look and sound like another Star Wars episode, but we don't feel much of Russian rockets hitting their targets here within the city area. And this is all thanks to the decent countries, decent people of the world who gave us this air defence," he said.

Living in the capital was anything but normal at the moment, Mr Scherba said, adding that the drone attacks and sleepless nights had become "part of our routine".

On Sunday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky praised his country's air defence forces after Kyiv sustained the largest drone attack since the war began.

"You are heroes," said Mr Zelensky, after military commanders said most of the drones launched by Russia were brought down.

In its recent attacks, Russia - which launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 - has been using kamikaze drones as well as a range of cruise and ballistic missiles.

Analysts say Moscow is seeking to deplete and damage Ukraine's air defences ahead of its long-expected counter-offensive.

'We’re ready to begin counter-offensive' - Ukraine

Ukraine has been planning a counter-offensive for months. But it has wanted as much time as possible to train troops and to receive military equipment from Western allies.

On Monday, in Russian region of Belgorod, the governor said that several frontier settlements were being shelled simultaneously by Ukrainian forces.

In the meantime, Russian forces have been preparing their defences in the seized regions of south-eastern Ukraine.

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By Paul Kirby & Ece Goksedef

In Ankara

Recep Tayyip Erdogan's supporters are celebrating after Turkey's long-time president won Sunday's vote, securing another five years in power.

"The entire nation of 85 million won," he told cheering crowds outside his enormous palace on the edge of Ankara.

But his call for unity sounded hollow as he ridiculed his opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu - and took aim at a jailed Kurdish leader and the LGBT community.

The opposition leader denounced "the most unfair election in recent years".

Mr Kilicdaroglu said the president's political party had mobilised all the means of the state against him and he did not explicitly admit defeat.

International observers said on Monday that, as with the first round on 14 May, media bias and limits to freedom of expression had "created an unlevel playing field, and contributed to an unjustified advantage" for Mr Erdogan.

President Erdogan ended with just over 52% of the vote, based on near-complete unofficial results. Almost half the electorate in this deeply polarised country did not back his authoritarian vision of Turkey.

Ultimately, Mr Kilicdaroglu was no match for the well-drilled Erdogan campaign, even if he took the president to a run-off second round for the first time since the post was made directly elected in 2014.

But he barely dented his rival's first-round lead, falling more than two million votes behind.

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Erdogan supporters celebrate win in divided Turkey

The president made the most of his victory, with an initial speech to supporters atop a bus in Turkey's biggest city, Istanbul, followed after dark by a balcony address from his palace to an adoring crowd that he numbered at 320,000 people.

"It is not just us who won, Turkey won," he declared, calling it one of the most important elections in Turkish history.

He taunted his opponent's defeat with the words "Bye, bye, Kemal" - a chant that was also taken up by his supporters in Ankara.

Mr Erdogan poured scorn on the main opposition party's increase in its number of MPs in the parliamentary vote two weeks earlier. The true number had fallen to 129, he said, because the party had handed over dozens of seats to its allies.

He also condemned the opposition alliance's pro-LGBT policies, which he said were in contrast with his own focus on families.

The run-up to the vote had become increasingly rancorous and in one incident late on Sunday, an opposition Good party official was fatally stabbed in front of a party office in the northern coastal town of Ordu.

The motive for Erhan Kurt's killing was not clear, but a leading opposition official blamed youths celebrating the election result.

Although the final results were not confirmed, the Supreme Election Council said there was no doubt who had won.

It is highly unusual for the palace complex to be opened to the public - but so was this result, extending his period in power to a quarter of a century.

Supporters came from all over Ankara to taste the victory. There were Islamic chants, while some laid Turkish flags on the grass to pray.

For a night, Turkey's economic crisis was forgotten. One supporter, Seyhan, said it was all a lie: "Nobody is hungry. We are very happy with his economy policies. He will do even better in the next five years."

But the president admitted that tackling inflation was Turkey's most urgent issue.

The question is whether he is prepared to take the necessary measures to do so. At an annual rate of almost 44%, inflation seeps into everyone's lives.

The cost of food, rent and other everyday goods has soared, exacerbated by Mr Erdogan's refusal to observe orthodox economic policy and raise interest rates.

The Turkish lira has hit record lows against the dollar and the central bank has struggled to meet surging demand for foreign currency.

"If they continue with low interest rates, as Erdogan has signalled, the only other option is stricter capital controls," warns Selva Demiralp, professor of economics at Koc university in Istanbul.

Erdogan: Turkey's all-powerful leader of 20 years

Economics was far from the minds of Erdogan supporters, who spoke of their pride at his powerful position in the world and his hard line on fighting "terrorists", by which they meant Kurdish militants.

President Erdogan has accused his opposite number of siding with terrorists, and criticised him for promising to free a former co-leader of Turkey's second largest opposition party, the pro-Kurdish HDP.

Selahattin Demirtas has been languishing in jail since 2016, despite the European Court of Human Rights ordering his release.

Mr Erdogan said while he was in power, Mr Demirtas would stay behind bars.

He also promised to prioritise rebuilding in areas hit by February's twin earthquakes and bring about the "voluntary" return of a million Syrian refugees.

Crowds flocked to Istanbul's Taksim Square, with many coming from the Middle East and the Gulf.

Supporters gather to hear Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan give an address after winning re-election in Turkey's run-off vote, at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, 28 May

Palestinians from Jordan wrapped Turkish flags around their shoulders. A Tunisian visitor, Alaa Nassar, said Mr Erdogan had not just made improvements to his own country, "he is also supporting Arabs and the Muslim world".

For all the celebrations, the idea of unity in this polarised country seems farther away than ever.

Since a failed coup in 2016, Mr Erdogan has abolished the post of prime minister and amassed extensive powers, which his opponent had pledged to roll back.

One voter outside an Ankara polling station on Sunday said he wanted to see an end to the brain drain that began with the post-coup purge. There is a risk that it may now intensify.

Turkey's defeated opposition will now have to regroup ahead of local elections in 2024.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) address supporters during an election rally

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a high-profile favourite among opposition supporters, appealed to them not to despair and said it was time for change.

His video message on social media was immediately seen as a veiled hint that the opposition needed a new leader.

He reminded them on Monday that he had won in Istanbul and another opposition figure had won in Ankara in 2019, only nine months after their previous presidential election defeat.

"We will never expect different results by doing the same things," he said.

Additional reporting from Istanbul by Cagil Kasapoglu.

Minggu, 28 Mei 2023

Turkey presidential election decides if Erdogan should have five more years - BBC

A person votes during the second round of the presidential election, in Istanbul, Turkey May 28, 2023

By Paul Kirby

BBC News, Ankara

Turks are voting in a momentous presidential run-off to decide whether or not Recep Tayyip Erdogan should remain in power after 20 years.

His challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, backed by a broad opposition alliance, called on voters to come out and "get rid of an authoritarian regime".

The president, who is favourite to win, promises a new era uniting the country around a "Turkish century".

But the more pressing issue is rampant inflation and a cost-of-living crisis.

Voters have nine hours to cast their ballots before 17:00 (14:00 GMT) and many were already waiting outside a polling station in central Ankara before the doors opened. One woman of 80 had set her alarm for 05:00 to be sure of arriving on time.

Turnout in the first round was an impressive 88.8%, and Mr Erdogan's lead was 2.5 million votes. That is why both candidates have their eye on the eight million who did not vote - but could this time.

Ahead of the run-off Mr Kilicdaroglu accused his rival of foul play, by blocking his text messages to voters while the president's messages went through. After voting in Ankara he urged Turks to protect the ballot boxes.

Opposition parties are deploying an army of some 400,000 volunteers in a bid to ensure no vote-rigging takes place, both at polling stations and later at the election authority. But among the volunteers, they need lawyers such as Sena to accompany the ballot boxes.

BBC

My parents say we used to trust the results and we didn't need any volunteers. It's bad that we don't trust the state, but the state can only change if people force it to
Sena
Legal observer in Ankara

International observers spoke of an uneven playing field after the first round. But there was no suggestion that any irregularities in voting would have changed the result.

As he voted in Istanbul, President Erdogan said Turkish democracy was going through a second round in a presidential election for the first time and suggested Turks should make use of it.

Mr Kilicdaroglu promised a very different style of presidency on his final day of campaigning: "I have no interest in living in palaces. I will live like you, modestly... and solve your problems."

Republican People's Party (CHP) leader and main opposition alliance presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu and his wife Selvi Kilicdaroglu arrive to cast their votes at a polling station

It was a swipe at Mr Erdogan's enormous palatial complex on the edge of Ankara which he moved to when he switched from prime minister to president in 2014. After surviving a failed coup in 2016 he took on extensive powers, detained tens of thousands of people and took control of the media.

So it was laden with symbolism when he paid a campaign visit on Saturday to the mausoleum of a prime minister executed by the military after a coup in 1960.

"The era of coups and juntas is over," he declared, linking Turkey's current stability to his own authoritarian rule.

Turkey's President and presidential candidate of AK Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R), flanked by his wife Emine Erdogan (L), casts his ballot on the day of the Presidential runoff

Turkey, however, is deeply polarised, with the president reliant on a support base of religious conservatives and nationalists, while his opposite number's supporters are mainly secular - but many of them are nationalist too.

For days the two men traded insults. Mr Kilicdaroglu accused the president of cowardice and hiding from a fair election; Mr Erdogan said his rival was on the side of "terrorists", referring to Kurdish militants.

But after days of inflammatory rhetoric about sending millions of Syrian refugees home, the opposition candidate returned to Turkey's number-one issue - the economic crisis, and in particular its effect on poorer households.

A 59-year-old woman and her grandson joined him on stage to explain how her monthly salary of 5,000 lira (£200; $250) was now impossible to live on as her rent had shot up to 4,000 lira (£160; $200).

It may have been staged, but this is the story across Turkey, with inflation at almost 44% and salaries and state help failing to keep pace.

Economists say the Erdogan policy of cutting interest rates rather than raising them has only made matters worse.

The Turkish lira has hit record lows, demand for foreign currency has surged and the central bank's net foreign currency reserves are in negative territory for the first time since 2002.

"The central bank has no foreign currency to sell," says Selva Demiralp, professor of economics at Koc University. "There are already some sort of capital controls - we all know it's hard to buy dollars. If they continue with low interest rates, as Erdogan has signalled, the only other option is stricter controls."

East of Ankara, gleaming tower blocks have been springing up in Kirikkale. It looks like boom-time for this city, run by the president's party.

But many people here are struggling.

Fatma has run a hairdresser's for 13 years but for the past two, work has dried up, and the cost of rent and hair products has soared.

She voted for an ultranationalist candidate who came third, and does not trust the two men left in the race.

A few doors up the street, Binnaz is working a sewing machine at a shop for mending clothes.

People cannot afford new dresses so she is earning much more, even if her monthly rent has trebled to to 4,000 lira. Despite Turkey's stricken economy, she is putting her faith in the president.

BBC

I believe [Erdogan] can fix it because he's been in power for 21 years and he has all the power. It's his last term [in office] so he'll do all he can for us
Binnaz
Seamstress in Kirikkale

Outside a supermarket, Emrah Turgut says he is also sticking with Mr Erdogan because he has no faith in the other option, and believes the president's unfounded allegations that the biggest opposition party co-operates with terrorists.

Turkey's second-biggest opposition party, the HDP, denies any link to the militant PKK, but President Erdogan has used their backing for the rival candidate to suggest a link to terrorists.

Whoever wins on Sunday, Turkey's parliament is already firmly in the grip of Mr Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party and its far-right nationalist ally, the MHP.

The AKP also has the youngest MP, who arrived in parliament on the eve of the presidential vote.

Zehranur Aydemir, 24, believes if Mr Erdogan wins then he will lay the foundations for a century in which Turkey will become a global power: "Now Turkey has a bigger vision it can dream bigger."

It is another grandiose Erdogan project, but Turkey's economy is likely to prove a more pressing task, whoever wins the run-off.

Cincunri Sakia

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