What can we expect from the Turkish voting abroad?

Turkish citizens living abroad came out in record numbers to vote in the elections.

On 9 May, Turkey's Supreme Election Board (YSK), which manages the country's elections, said that more than 1.8 million votes were cast abroad.

The voter turnout exceeded 53 percent, which according to the YSK is the highest rate since the 2011 elections.

The participation rate, however, is still low compared with Turkey, where it exceeded 86 percent in 2018.

The largest bloc outside of Turkey is in Germany, where more than 1.5 million people are eligible to vote, making them an important voice in shaping the future of the country.

After Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, voters abroad are the most important electoral districts collectively, with more than three million eligible to vote.

According to the YSK, women between the ages of 50-64 living abroad show the greatest interest in the elections, with a 70 percent turnout in the 2018 elections.

The lowest turnout is among male voters between the ages of 18-34 and 65-75+ for female voters.

In Germany at least, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is expected to hold a commanding position, albeit a diminished one from 2018.

Caner Aver, an expert on German-Turkish relations at the Center for Turkish Studies and Integration Research in Essen, recently told Middle East Eye that he believes that while the AKP will once again be the strongest force in the upcoming elections, it is unlikely to hold the clear lead it held in 2018.