ANKARA, April 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday he was cancelling his planned election campaign appearances under doctor’s orders after developing a stomach bug.
“Today I will rest at home under the advice of our doctors,” Erdoğan said on his official Twitter account.
The president said he will resume the campaign on Thursday.
Erdoğan was scheduled to attend campaign speeches in three separate central Anatolian provinces on Wednesday.
Late on Tuesday, Erdoğan had to briefly cut a live television interview after he suffered what he later described as stomach upset.
The Kanal 7 station cut broadcasting after Erdoğan, off camera, failed to respond to a question on his election promises.
The 69-year-old later returned to finalize the interview, where he said an intense election campaign led to some “serious” stomach troubles. An ailing Erdoğan said he considered cancelling the interview ahead of time.
“Thank God, our president’s health is good,” his spokesman İbrahim Kalın said on Twitter.
The joint opposition candidate for president, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, separately wished Erdoğan a speedy recovery on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Turkish nationals living abroad will be able to cast their votes for the presidential and parliamentary elections in 74 countries at 177 representations on April 27-May 9, Türkiye’s Supreme Election Council announced on Wednesday in a statement.
The statement said voters until May 9 will be able to vote in 177 representative offices in 74 countries for Turkish elections set for May 14.
Balloting in foreign representative offices will be held between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time on weekdays and weekends.
In cities with Turkish consulate generals, voting will be held between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. local time.
Also, voters will be able to vote at any of the designated representative offices or customs gates where ballot boxes are set, without an appointment for the process.
In case none of the candidates secures more than 50% of the vote, balloting will be held for a possible runoff, set for May 28, on May 20-24 at the specified representative offices.
Voting will be held in 26 representative offices in Germany, and nine representative offices in the U.S. and France.
It is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. local time (0500GMT) and end by 5 p.m. (1400GMT) on May 14 in Türkiye.
The Turkish election board set May 28 as the date for a possible runoff if no candidate can secure a majority in the first round. — NNN-AGENCIES
