By Meryem Goktas
ANKARA (AA) - Turks living in Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy began casting votes on Friday to participate in Turkey's presidential and general elections.
Germany, Austria, and France were among the first countries in Europe where voting began on June 7.
Election Day in Turkey is on June 24.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Turkey's consul general in Geneva Mehmet Sait Uyanik said that large crowds came already in the first hours after the ballot was opened.
In Switzerland, around 96,000 Turkish voters will vote at the Turkish embassy in Bern and at the consulates general of Turkey in Geneva and Zurich.
Turkish citizens living abroad and traveling to Turkey this month can also cast their votes at custom gates until 5 p.m. local time on June 24.
Out of Turkey’s more than three million voters overseas, nearly half of them live in Germany.
In March last year, more than 697,000 Turkish immigrants in Germany went to the polls in Turkey’s constitutional referendum. The voter turnout was 49 percent.
*Fatih Erel contributed to this story from Geneva