Erdogan's key supporters, religious conservatives, see his rise to the presidency as the crowning achievement of his long trip to Turkey reformatted. After a decade as prime minister, he broke the roof of a secular elite that had dominated since the founding of the modern Republic by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, on the ruins of the Ottoman theocracy, in 1923.
Opponents see it as a modern-day sultan, whose roots in Islamic politics and intolerance towards opposition is "Occupy" Turkey, a military alliance of NATO and a candidate for European Union membership, which is moving increasingly farther Ataturk's secular ideals.
Erdogan, as his aides have said, should serve two terms as president and lead the country until 2023, and will be recorded when the 100th anniversary of the secular Republic. One such symbolism does not like to lose a leader, whose passionate speeches are often intertwined with references to Ottoman history.
"With the assumption that Erdogan will win, one in which we will face is the beginning of a new era," said Marc Pierini, a former EU ambassador to Turkey.
So far, Turkish presidents are elected by the Parliament, but based on the new law, three candidates will be exposed to the judgment of the national electorate, while competing for a five-year term.
Electoral rules prohibit the publication of polls in the moments before the vote, but two of them held last month to announce support Erdogan in about 55 or 56%, leaving 20% less with the main opposition candidate, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, as well as sufficient to provide the necessary simple majority to be declared winner in the first round.
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