Wrong Country Mate: Turks Voted for Erdogan During French Presidential Elections

The recently held first round of presidential elections in France saw another “out-of-place” candidate. Voters of Turkish descent, for reasons only known to them, decided to vote for none other than the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The fact that the Turkish leader was not on the list of the French presidential candidates did not stop the voters.

They wrote his name on the voting ballots and even put in his photos along with their votes.

According to a Turkish media report, on one of the ballots there was a statement written by the voter. It read, “There is no one else to vote for, except Reis. A great man, maybe you should take Europe into your own hands?”

The word Reis, which means “leader,” is how Erdogan supporters address their beloved president.

Earlier, a similar situation had already been observed when during the elections in the Netherlands, held mid-March, the Turks living in the country also voted for Erdogan.

Fransa'da Cumhurbaşkanlığı seçimlerinde, bir çok oy zarfından Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan pusulaları çıktı. pic.twitter.com/GSuD4tmIbe

— Hukuk Haberleri (@hukuk_haberleri) April 24, 2017

Fransa'daki Cumhurbaşkanlığı seçiminde bir çok zarftan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan'ın ismi çıktı. pic.twitter.com/HHFltSUZRJ

— e-Raportal (@e_Raportal) April 24, 2017

​According to results provided by the French Interior Ministry, Sunday's first round concluded with Emmanuel Macron in the lead with 23.75 percent of the votes, while the leader of the far-right National Front (FN) party Marine Le Pen follows with 21.53 percent.

Both candidates have qualified for the second round of the presidential election.