Polling stations in Turkey closed their doors on Sunday, after witnessing a large influx of voters in an election that appears dangerous for the conservative Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in power unchallenged for twenty years.

Voting ended at 17:00 (14:00 GMT), with no incidents reported. Voters cast their ballots in large green envelopes containing a card to choose the Turkish president for the next five years and another to choose the 600 members of parliament.

Erdogan, who cast his vote at the polling station in Uskudar, the conservative neighborhood on the Asian side of Istanbul, expressed his hope for a "good future for the country and for Turkish democracy," stressing the "enthusiasm of the voters," especially in the areas affected by the February 6 earthquake that killed 50,000 people. at least.

The outgoing Turkish president, who showed signs of fatigue, did not want to issue any predictions about the outcome of the upcoming elections in the evening.

Prior to that, the main opposition candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, came to cast his vote in Ankara.

"We all miss democracy and we miss standing together and embracing each other," he said, stressing, "You will see spring returning to this country, God willing, and it will continue forever."

The competition seems very fierce to choose the country's 13th president - in the third direct universal suffrage - a century after the founding of the republic, which seems more divided than ever.

Voters divided between the conservative Islamist president, 69, who has been in power for twenty years, and his rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, 74, who heads a secular social-democratic party, the Republican People's Party, must give one of them at least 50% of the vote to confirm victory in the first round. .

"What matters is that Turkey is not divided," said Recep Turktan, 67, who was waiting outside a polling station in Uskudar.

And registered 64 million voters who will also choose members of their parliament throughout this country, which has a population of 85 million, and traditionally witnesses a voter turnout of more than eighty percent.

A third candidate, Sinan Ogan, made some progress.

In a festive atmosphere on this day, which coincides with Mothers' Day in Turkey, voters came to the polling stations in a good atmosphere.

"The economy is not a priority. We must start with the basic issues: restoring human rights, democracy and restoring our dignity," said Handi Teekay, 55, in Istanbul's upscale Sisli district.

Alongside her, Alfie Amenchi said, "To put it simply, we want the French Revolution: + equality, freedom, fraternity + because all this has been lost in the past twenty years."

Nurka Sauer cast her vote wearing a headscarf in the conservative Uskudar district, which supports the outgoing president, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, explaining, "I say 'continue' with Erdogan."

In Antakya, in southern Turkey, which was hit by a devastating earthquake on the sixth of last February, Mehmet Topaloglu arrived early to be one of the first to cast their votes Sunday in Turkey's elections, stressing the need for "change."

But the wounds remain fresh three months after the disaster. According to Ellen Carcass, "the state did not come to our aid," noting that state representatives "arrived three or four days after" the disaster.

According to the young woman, the number of voters in favor of Erdogan "will decrease a lot" this year in Hatay province, where Antioch is located, and it is one of the areas most affected by the earthquake disaster that killed more than 50,000 people.

Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People's Party created by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, leads a coalition of six diverse parties from the nationalist right to the liberal center-left.

It also has the support of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which is considered the third political force in the country.

During the previous presidential elections that took place in 2018, Erdogan won the first round after receiving more than 52.5 percent of the vote. Therefore, the possibility of organizing a second session on May 28 will constitute a setback for him.

Erdogan promised to respect the ruling at the polls, which are watched by hundreds of thousands of supporters on both sides.

Erdogan relied on the strength of the construction sector in particular, pointing to his great achievements that led to the modernization of Turkey, to highlight his success during the first decade of his assumption of power, as prime minister first.

But the earthquake exposed the corruption of contractors and authorities who issued building permits in defiance of earthquake prevention rules.

In confronting him, Kilicdaroglu used the appeasement card, promising to establish a state of law and respect for institutions, which have been damaged during the past ten years due to Erdogan's authoritarian tendencies.

Opinion polls revealed that his short and calm speeches, in contrast to Erdogan's anger and insults, convinced the majority of 5.2 million young Turks who will vote for the first time.

"Erdogan's defeat will show that we can get out of an entrenched authoritarian regime through the ballot box," said political expert Ahmet Encel, who lives in Paris.

Bayram Balsi, a researcher at the Center for International Studies - Political Sciences in Paris and former director of the French Institute for Anatolian Studies, said, "Kilichdaroglu's victory will show that we can achieve a smooth transition in a Muslim country."

The elections are taking place amid close monitoring from abroad of what might constitute a "Turkish spring", as this country, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), enjoys a unique location between Europe and the Middle East and is a major diplomatic player.

The first official estimates are expected four hours after polls close.