Turnout has been high in Germany, home to the largest Turkish diaspora of 1.5 million. Most live in the western state of North Rhine Westphalia, home to just over 500,000 eligible voters.

 Some 642,000 people voted in Germany, according to Yunus Ulusoy of the Centre for Turkish Studies in Essen. Compared with the last election in 2018, he said, that represents an increase of a good 19%.

Voter turnout was just below 43% by Sunday, up from 38.5% in the same period in 2018.

“The increase in voter turnout makes it clear that Turkish voters attach great emotional importance to the elections, even though the results do not affect their everyday lives in Germany,” Ulusoy said.

Turkey holds elections on May 14 and the race is tight between incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the candidate for a six-party opposition coalition, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, with the latest polling showing the opposition marginally ahead.

The poll comes amid economic crisis and in the aftermath of catastrophic earthquakes.

Ulusoy said the opposition alliance had probably managed to mobilize more this time than in 2018, when Erdoğan did well in Germany.

GNA