Erdogan’s fate in the balance as Turkish voters head to the polls

Millions of voters across Turkey cast their ballots Sunday in a crucial election pitting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, whose support by a broad coalition of opposition parties has left Erdogan more vulnerable to defeat than ever before, polls indicate.

Erdogan, Turkey’s most successful politician in generations, has led the country for two decades. But he has been blamed for an economy in crisis that has battered Turkish households. And Turks are still recovering from catastrophic earthquakes in February that killed more than 50,000 people and that exposed government lapses — in the enforcement of building codes and in rescue efforts that the president has conceded were tardy, with fatal consequences.

The race is being closely watched around the world. Kilicdaroglu has promised to usher Turkey, a NATO member, into a new era by revitalizing democracy after years of government repression and refreshing ties with Turkey’s allies in the West. For his part, Erdogan has tried to highlight the strides Turkey took under his rule, as a country modernized by megaprojects like bridges and airports, and a global power that produced military weapons sought by foreign governments.