Turkey’s Erdogan celebrates presidential election run-off win

Istanbul, Turkey – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won re-election, according to the country’s top electoral council and unofficial data from the state-run Anadolu Agency, in a tense runoff after failing to secure more than 50 percent of the vote necessary for a direct election. victory in the first round on May 14.

With almost all votes counted, Erdogan received 52.14 percent of the vote in Sunday’s second round, beating his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who won 47.86 percent, according to the Supreme Electoral Council.

The result is expected to be confirmed in the coming days.

The vote seals Erdogan’s place in history as he extends his 20-year rule for another five years.

He had already surpassed the 15-year presidency of the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Erdogan appeared outside his Uskudar residence in Istanbul, where he sang before thanking an adoring crowd.

“We have completed the second round of the presidential election with the favor of our people,” Erdogan said. “God willing, we will be worthy of your trust, as we have been for the past 21 years.”

He added that all of the country’s 85 million citizens were the “victors” of the two rounds of voting on May 14 and May 28.

The president also said the main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), will hold candidate Kilicdaroglu responsible for his poor performance, adding that the number of CHP seats in parliament has decreased compared to 2017 polls.

He then went to Ankara, where he addressed supporters at the presidential palace. Erdogan congratulated the crowd and told them that the most pressing problem the country is currently facing was inflation before adding that it was not a difficult problem to solve.

Official data shows that inflation in Turkey was 50.5 percent in March, down from a high of 85.6 percent in October.

“The most urgent issue… is to remove the problems arising from the price increases caused by inflation and to compensate for the loss of wealth,” the president said.

Erdogan added that healing the wounds of the February earthquakes and rebuilding the cities and towns devastated by the natural disaster would remain among his priorities.

“Our hearts and hands will remain on the earthquake zone,” Erdogan said.

In his initial remarks after it became clear that Erdogan would remain president, Kilicdaroglu said he would continue what he called a “struggle for democracy”.

“All the resources of the state were mobilized for one political party and placed at the feet of one man,” said the CHP leader. “I want to thank the Nation Alliance leaders, their organizations, our voters and the citizens who protected the ballot boxes and fought against this immoral and unlawful pressure.”

Despite the loss, Kilicdaroglu has yet to step down, although calls to do so are likely to increase now.

Close campaign

The two-month election period witnessed one of the most bitter campaigns in recent history.

Erdogan repeatedly referred to his opponent as backed by “terrorists” – thanks to the support of the main pro-Kurdish party – while Kilicdaroglu ended the campaign by calling Erdogan a “coward”.

The campaign took on an increasingly nationalistic tone, with the opposition in particular pledging to force Syrians and other refugee populations to leave.

Sunday’s re-vote marked the first time since the introduction of direct presidential elections in 2014 that voting had moved into a second phase.

Despite citizens being called to vote again two weeks after the first elections on May 14, turnout remained around 85 percent.

For Turks after the opening of the televised polls, the results depended on which platform they followed – the state-run Anadolu news agency or the Anka agency, which has ties to the opposition.

Two hours after the polls closed — as the election authority said a quarter of votes had been counted — Anadolu showed Erdogan leading by 53.7 percent, while Anka Kilicdaroglu showed a lead of 50.1 percent.

However, as the evening progressed, the difference between the two accounts narrowed and Erdogan featured on both.

Widely heralded as the most important in recent Turkish history, the elections — a parliamentary poll was held alongside the leadership race on May 14 — took place during the republic’s centenary.

The choice of candidates was expressed in equally apt terms – either an extension of Erdogan’s 20-year rule, or a leader promising to return to a parliamentary system.

The polls, in which more than 64 million Turks at home and abroad were eligible to vote, came against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis, with inflation peaking at 85 percent in October and earthquakes in February that killed more than 50,000 people. came to life. people in the southeast of the country.

Erdogan, who came to power in 2003, initially as prime minister, offered a vision for further development and pledged to continue the improvements made by his Justice and Development Party (AK) government.

Following his success in parliamentary elections – the AK Party and its allies won 323 of the 600 seats – Erdogan was also able to promise the stability provided by controlling both the legislature and the government.

Kilicdaroglu, meanwhile, promised democratization and a rollback of Erdogan’s “one-man rule” while dealing with what he called economic mismanagement.

The nationalist tone leading up to the presidential election was partly an attempt to gain the support of voters who supported Sinan Ogan, the candidate who won more than 5 percent of the vote on May 14.

Ogan eventually supported Erdogan, but other nationalists supported Kilicdaroglu.

Erdogan reached 49.5 percent in the first round to Kilicdaroglu’s 44.9 percent.

Having weathered the past two months of campaigning, voters now have 10 months to gear up for local elections in March, when Erdogan will push for the recapture of cities like Istanbul and Ankara taken by the opposition in 2019.