The current head of state of Turkey, the Islamist Recep Tayyip Erdogan, declared himself the winner in the Turkish presidential runoff.
“We will govern the country for the next five years,” the president told a group of supporters. “God willing, we will respond to his trust,” he declared from the top of a bus in his home district of Istanbul, where he added that the “big winner of this day is Turkey.”
The official Anadolu Agency reported that, with 98% of the votes counted, the president obtained 52.1% of the support, compared to 47.9% for his rival, the Social Democrat Kemal Kiliçdaroglu. In his speech, Erdogan thanked the citizens for going to the polls and assured that Kiliçdaroglu will face criticism from his party for his poor electoral performance. “Bye bye Kemal,” he added.
“We will keep all our promises,” said the head of state, who has been in power for 20 years, assuring that “every election is a rebirth.” “These elections have shown that no one can attack the achievements of this nation,” he continued.
On May 14, none of the candidates achieved the necessary majority to become head of state in the first round of the presidential elections, which were held together with the legislative ones, which forced an unprecedented ballot. From abroad, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban congratulated Erdogan on his “unquestionable” victory, as did Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Key geopolitical role
Erdogan arrived as the favorite in the second round, despite the desire for change on the part of the electorate, the galloping inflation and the denunciations of the restrictions of freedoms in a country where there are tens of thousands of opponents in prison or in exile. The 69-year-old president arrived with a tired face to vote at noon in a neighborhood of Usküdar, where an enthusiastic crowd was waiting for him.
“No country in the world has a 90 percent participation rate and Turkey has almost reached it. I call on my fellow citizens to go vote without hesitation,” declared the leader. The opposition candidate, who chairs the Republican People’s Party (CHP, secular) and brings together a six-party coalition, voted for him in Ankara, the country’s capital.
Kiliçdaroglu, 74, invited his supporters to stay near the polls after the closure of the polling stations to monitor the count. “To bring true democracy and freedom to this country and get rid of authoritarian rule, I invite all citizens to vote,” he said.
Elections in Turkey, population 85 million and a NATO member, are closely watched by both Western powers and Middle Eastern countries due to their key geopolitical role.