By Mehmet Solmaz
LEICESTER, England (AA) - Turks living in Britain began heading to the voting stations Saturday in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Leicester for elections slated for May 14 in Türkiye.
Those living in the central England regions had to in the past travel to London or Manchester to vote, making it difficult for many families.
But this time, Türkiye provided an opportunity for its citizens to vote in the central English city of Leicester.
Murat Sukru Acar, a British-Turk who has been living in Leicester for the last 25 years, told Anadolu that Türkiye is allowing its citizens to cast their votes outside a diplomatic mission.
“This is something to be proud of for us as the citizens are able to cast their votes easily here. We’re happy for our state to provide us such a service,” said Acar.
A total of 127,281 registered voters can vote until May 7 at polling stations set up in the four cities.
The station in Leicester is at a rugby club’s premises next to its stadium. Election officials told Anadolu that many from across the region had been queuing up from early morning on the first day.
Those who arrived at the station were mainly residents of Leicester, Coventry, Birmingham, Loughborough, Nottingham, Cambridge, and other cities in the Midlands region, which covers a significant portion of central England.
Yalcin Sair, who has spent most of his life in Leicester, will vote for the first time in his life.
“If the voting station was in another city, I probably wouldn’t be able to go due to my work. I would have to think about it a bit,” he said.
Berker Tekgul, a master’s degree student from Leicester’s De Montfort University, said he would have cast his vote even if he had to go to London.
“It’s a great advantage for us to be able to vote here in Leicester as it will eventually increase the participation rate. I believe this will make this election more democratic,” the business law student said.
The expats will choose between four presidential hopefuls: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking reelection, Muharrem Ince, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, and Sinan Ogan.
As many as 24 political parties and 151 independent candidates are vying for 600 seats in the Turkish parliament.