- Erdogan or the embattled Oglu failed to clear the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff.
- Run-off elections will be held on May 28.
- Kılıkdaroğlu accused Erdogan of interfering in the counting of votes.
ANKARA: Turkey was headed for a runoff vote in Sunday’s election after President Tayyip Erdogan’s lead over his rival, Kemal Kılıkdaroğlu, but fell short of a clear majority to extend his 20-year rule in the NATO member state. Stayed.
Neither Erdogan nor Kılıkdaroğlu cleared the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff on May 28, seen as a ruling by Erdogan.
The presidential vote will decide not only who leads Turkey, but also whether it returns to a more secular, democratic path, how it handles the crisis of its lifetime. And will manage key relationships with Russia, the Middle East and the West.
Kilicdaroglu, who said he would prevail in the election race, urged his supporters to be patient and accused Erdogan’s party of interfering in the counting and reporting of results.
But Erdogan fared better than pre-election polls suggested, and he appeared confident and in combative mood as he addressed his supporters.
“We are already 2.6 million votes ahead of our nearest rival. We expect this number to increase with the official results,” Erdogan said.
With nearly 97 percent of ballot boxes counted, Erdogan won 49.39 percent of the vote and Kılıkdaroğlu won 44.92 percent, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. Turkey’s High Electoral Board gave Erdogan 49.49% of the vote, with 91.93% of ballot boxes counted.
Thousands of Erdogan supporters gathered at the party’s headquarters in Ankara, playing party songs from loudspeakers and waving flags. Some danced in the street.
“We know it’s not exactly a celebration yet but we hope to celebrate his victory soon. Erdogan is the best leader we’ve had for this country and we love him,” the 39-year-old said. said Yalcin Yildirim, who owns a textile factory.
Erdogan has the upper hand.
The results reflect deep polarization in a country at a political crossroads. The vote was designed to give Erdogan’s ruling coalition a majority in parliament, giving them a potential lead in the runoff.
Opinion polls before the election had pointed to a tight race, but Klikdar Oglu, who heads a six-party coalition, had a narrow lead. Two polls on Friday showed him above the 50 percent mark.
The country of 85 million people – already struggling with soaring inflation – now faces two weeks of uncertainty that could roil markets, with analysts expecting a rally in the local currency and stock market. are
“The next two weeks will probably be the longest two weeks in Turkey’s history and a lot will happen,” said Hakan Akabas, managing director of Strategic Advisory. “I expect a significant crash on the Istanbul Stock Exchange and a lot of currency volatility.” ” Services, a consultancy.
“Erdogan will benefit in the second vote when his coalition fared better than the opposition coalition,” he added.
The third nationalist presidential candidate, Sinan Ogun, won 5.3 percent of the vote. Analysts say he could be a “kingmaker” in the runoff depending on which candidate he supports.
The opposition said Erdogan’s party was delaying the full results by filing objections, while officials published the results in an order that artificially inflated Erdogan’s tally.
Kılıkdaroğlu said in an earlier appearance that Erdogan’s party was “destroying the will of Turkey” by objecting to the counting of more than 1,000 ballot boxes. “You cannot stop what will happen with objections. We will never let it happen. Destiny – Fate“They said.
But the mood at the opposition party’s headquarters, where the hard-line Oglu was expected to win, was subdued during the counting of votes. His supporters waved flags and beat drums of Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Putin’s key allies
The choice of Turkey’s next president is one of the most consequential political decisions in the country’s 100-year history, and it will reverberate far beyond Turkey’s borders.
A victory for Erdogan, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most important allies, would likely please the Kremlin but unnerve the Biden administration as well as many European and Middle Eastern leaders with strained relations with Erdogan. were
Turkey’s longest-serving leader has transformed the NATO member and Europe’s second-largest country into a global player, modernizing it with major projects like new bridges and airports and foreign states. The required arms industry has been built by
But his unsustainable economic policy of low interest rates, which led to a crisis of living and rising cost of inflation, made him the target of voter ire. His government’s slow response to a devastating earthquake in southeastern Turkey earlier this year added to voter frustration.
Parliamentary majority
Kilicdaroglu has pledged to restore democracy after years of state repression, return to conservative economic policies, empower institutions that lost autonomy under Erdogan and rebuild fragile ties with the West.
If the opposition prevails, thousands of political prisoners and activists may be released.
Critics fear that if Erdogan wins a second term, he will rule more autocratically. The 69-year-old president, a veteran of a dozen electoral victories, says he respects democracy.
In parliamentary voting, Erdogan’s conservative AKP People’s Alliance, the nationalist MHP and others fared better than expected and were heading for a majority.