President Tayyip Erdogan claimed victory in Turkey’s presidential election on Sunday, a victory that would take his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade.
Addressing supporters, Erdogan said voters have given him the responsibility to govern for the next five years.
“The only winner is Turkey,” he told cheering supporters from the top of a bus in Istanbul.
The final official results are yet to be released.
There was no immediate reaction to Erdogan’s victory speech from his rival, Kemal Kelikdaroglu.
The election was seen as one of Turkey’s most consequential elections to date, with the opposition believing it has a strong chance of ousting Erdogan as his popularity is undermined by a life-threatening crisis. was faced with
Instead, after already reshaping domestic, economic, security and foreign policy in the NATO member nation of 85 million people and projecting Turkey as a regional power, Fatah’s image of invincibility It will further strengthen.
Supporters gathered at his Istanbul residence in hopes of victory as he led with nearly 99 percent of ballot boxes counted, according to figures from both the state-run Anadolu Agency and the opposition ANKA news agency.
“All our 85 million citizens are the winners of both the May 14 and May 28 elections,” Erdogan was quoted as saying. Anadolu.
“We said ‘We’re going to win like nobody’s going to lose.’ So the only winner today is Turkey,” he stressed.
According to Supreme Election Council (YSK) chairman Ahmet Yenir, Erdogan is currently leading the presidential election with 53.41 percent of the vote, while opposition candidate Kemal Kılık Daroğlu won 75.42 percent of the vote with 46.59 percent of the vote counted. are
On May 14, no candidate won the required 50% in the first round, triggering the presidential election, although Erdogan took the lead with 49.52%. Erdogan’s electoral coalition also won a majority in parliament on May 14.
Erdogan expressed his gratitude to the people of Turkey and said that we have completed the second round of presidential elections in favor of our nation.
“I want to thank everyone in our nation who once again entrusted us with the responsibility of governing the country for the next five years,” he added.
The defeat of Kılıkdar Oğlu, who had promised to steer the country down a more democratic and cooperative path, will likely be celebrated in Moscow, but Turkey is more confrontational and independent in foreign affairs. After taking the stand, mourning was observed in Western capitals and much of the Middle East.
– with additional input from Anadolu Agency