From the coast of the Aegean to the mountainous border with Iran, millions of Turks are voting today with about 191,884 ballot boxes.. Both President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his arch-rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu are warning that the country is at a historic turning point..

In the last sprints of the election race, both candidates placed great emphasis on the historic resonance of the vote, which comes exactly 100 years after the founding of the secular Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923..

In Istanbul's Umraniye district, on the last day of the election campaign, Erdogan told voters that the country of 85 million is on the "

Erdogan's talk of a Turkish century is partly a promise to make the country stronger and more technologically independent, especially in the defense sector.. In recent months, the president has been quick to associate himself with the domestically produced Togg electric car, the Kaan fighter jet, and the country's first aircraft carrier, Anadolu..

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“But the Turkish age of Erdogan is more than domestic aircraft and ships. Few doubt that the president sees 2023 as a key milestone to accelerate his move away from Ataturk's secular legacy towards a more religiously conservative nation.. Indeed, the campaign is characterized by a strong emphasis on family values \u200b\u200band harsh rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community.. Not surprisingly, he ended his campaign Saturday night at Hagia Sophia - once Constantinople's greatest church - which he controversially converted from a museum back into a mosque, just like it was during Ottoman times..

The state built by Ataturk from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire in 1923 was secular and modernized, often along Western lines, with the introduction of Latin letters and even the banning of fez in favor of Western-style hats..

“In this sense, the Islamist populist Erdogan is infinitely far from Field Marshal Ataturk, who danced ballroom dances and drank raki,” the article says..

Election 2023 is widely seen as a decisive referendum on which vision Turkey will win. And Erdogan seeks to present the opposition as having sold out to the West and global financial institutions like the IMF..

“Are you ready to bury at the ballot box those who promised to give the country’s valuables to foreigners and usurers? "

Erdogan is not the kind of person who positions himself as an ally of the West. Backed by pressure that Ankara should not get so close to the Kremlin, Erdogan on Friday said he would " He said this after Kilicdaroglu complained about Russian interference in the elections..

All about Ataturk.

In contrast, Erdogan's main rival Kilicdaroglu is trying to take on the role of Ataturk and stresses the need to return the country to the path of European democratic norms after Erdogan's turn towards authoritarianism.. If the incumbent Turkish president ended his campaign at the great mosque of Hagia Sophia, Kilicdaroglu did so by laying flowers at Ataturk's mausoleum.

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Speaking from a rain-drenched stage in Ankara on Friday night, the 74-year-old official said: \!

In his speech, he criticized Erdogan for sacrificing Turkey to drug traffickers and nepotistic connections of construction oligarchs, saying that there is no place for “robbers” in the country.. Symbolically, he rebuked the president for ruling from his 1,150-room presidential complex, nicknamed "

Keeping the theme of Turkey's " After all, he comes from the CHP party, which was founded by Ataturk.

We are entering the second century. And now we have a new generation, we have you. We must decide together whether we will be among those who only honor the memory of Ataturk, as in the first century, or among those who understand him in this century.? This generation is those who understand,” he said from his book-lined office..

In the elite district of Besiktas on Saturday evening, all the talk about Ataturk was not a dry history lesson. Over the last beers before the ban on the sale of alcohol comes into force on election day, young Turks beat their fists in the air and chanted: "

In diametrical opposition to Erdogan's persecuting opponents and wielding significant influence over the judiciary and the media, Kilicdaroglu insists he will push Turkey to implement the reforms needed to move towards EU membership..

Asked by Politico if this could backfire as some hostile EU countries will forever block Turkey's membership, he said the reforms themselves are a critical element for Turkey's future..

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“It doesn’t matter if the EU accepts us or not. It is important that we bring to our country all the democratic standards that the EU provides. We are part of Western civilization. Therefore, the EU may accept us or not, but we will bring these democratic standards. The EU needs Turkiye,” Kilicdaroglu told the publication.

To the polling stations.

Polling stations open at 8 am on Election Day and close at 5 pm. At 9 p.m., the media can start publishing reports. And the first unofficial results will begin to appear around midnight.

The mood is cautious. There are rumors that internet use could be restricted or there could be riots in the streets if there is controversy over the election results.. Fears of trouble only increased after reports of possible military or government interference in the voting process..

Two days before the elections, the CHP accused Interior Minister Suleyman Soyla of plotting electoral manipulation. The main opposition party said Soylu urged governors to seek military support on election night.. Soylu did not give a single public response.

Turkey's Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) has rejected the Interior Ministry's request to collect and store election results in the ministry's database. The Electoral Council also banned the police and gendarmerie from collecting election results..

Erdogan himself tried to downplay any concerns about electoral fraud.. On Friday in the studio in front of a young audience, he called it "

“We came to power in Turkey democratically and thanks to the courtesy of the people. If they make a different decision, we will carry it out,” the president said, looking unusually scowling, possibly still under the influence of what his party called a bout of gastroenteritis during the campaign..

Opposition vows to closely monitor all polling stations to prevent any fraud.

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At Esenyurt Kumhuriyet Square on Istanbul's European side, a group of high school students gathered on Saturday morning to meet the city's popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, who would become one of Kilicdaroglu's vice presidents if he won..

Elida, 18, said she would vote for the opposition because of her stance on democracy, justice and women's rights.. When asked what would happen if Erdogan won, she replied: “We are planning to start a deep mourning. Our country as we know it will no longer exist.”.