Voting for the Nov 1 polls starts abroad and at customs gates

ISTANBUL

DHA Photo

Voting for the snap elections on Nov. 1 has started at Turkey’s representatives in foreign countries and at border gates across the country. 

A total of 2,895,885 Turkish citizens living abroad are eligible to vote either at 112 foreign representative offices in 54 countries or at 30 customs gates on Turkey’s borders and international airports. 

The voting at foreign representative offices and border gates started on Oct. 8, through the voting schedule of the many offices vary. 

The ballot boxes at the embassies and consulates in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Switzerland and Northern Cyprus will be open for 18 days, from Oct. 8 to Oct. 25, while the ballots in Australia will be open from Oct. 16 to Oct. 25. 

Oct. 25 will be the last day to vote at Turkey’s foreign representative offices everywhere in the world. Voting in the U.S. will start on Oct. 17, in Norway on Oct. 19, in the Netherlands on Oct. 21, in the United Kingdom and Romania on Oct. 22, and in the United Arab Emirates, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Algeria, Sweden, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Russia and Greece on Oct. 24.  

Voting in Albania, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, the Czech Republic, China, Finland, South Africa, Georgia, Iran, Ireland, Spain, Japan, Qatar, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Hungary, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Poland, Sudan, Thailand, Ukraine, Oman, Jordan and New Zealand will only take place on Oct. 25.  

The last day for voting at customs gates is Nov. 1, the date when the election will take place in Turkey. 
Customs gates where Turkish citizens living abroad can cast their votes are the motorway customs gates of Sarp, Kapıkule, İpsala, Hamzabeyli, Dilucu and Dereköy; the airport customs gates of Şakirpaşa, Esenboğa, Antalya, Eskişehir, Elazığ, Gaziantep, Hatay, Atatürk, Sabiha Gökçen, Adnan Menderes, Erkilet, Konya Askeri, Dalaman, Bodrum-Milas, Samsun, Trabzon and Zonguldak; and the port customs gates of Kuşadası, Ayvalık, İzmir, Derince, Mersin, Taşucu, Bodrum and Samsun.

Talking to state-run Anadolu Agency, officials at the Kapıkule, Hamzabeyli, İpsala and Dereköy customs gates in the western Turkish border province of Edirne and Kırklareli said they did not expect an “intensive” voting process.

According to the Foreign Ministry, turnout among Turks abroad was around 36 percent in the inconclusive June 7 general election.