(updated)
“Based on the provisional results, it is confirmed that Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been re-elected as the President of the Republic,” Turkey’s High Electoral Commission (YSK) head, Ahmet Yener, was quoted as saying by state news agency Anadolu.
With 99.43% of the votes cast, the Electoral Council gave Erdoğan the victory with 52.14% of the vote. His opponent, Kamal Klişateroğlu, finished in the second round with 47.86% of the vote.
The final official results are expected to be announced early next week. However, Yener explains that with a margin of more than two million votes between the candidates, the remaining uncounted votes will not change the outcome.
Erdoğan had already declared victory even before it was confirmed by the Election Commission.
“Our nation has entrusted us with the responsibility of governing the country for the next five years,” Erdogan said in a speech on Sunday from a bus parked in front of his Istanbul residence.
“We completed the second round of presidential elections with the support of our people,” Erdogan said. “God willing, we will be worthy of your trust as we have been doing for the last 21 years,” he added.
“Goodbye, Kamal,” Erdoğan addressed to Kemal Kılıçateroğlu, the main opposition leader and his opponent in these elections. The Turkish president said the opposition Republican Party (CHP) should hold Kılıçdaroğlu responsible for his bad decision.
Assuring that “we will fulfill all the promises made to the people”, the Head of State emphasized that “every election is a rebirth”.
Before Erdogan’s victory speech, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, had already congratulated Tayyip Erdogan on his victory.
Congratulations to the President @RTDogan In his unquestionable electoral victory! Debrigler, Sain Kumhurpaskani! pic.twitter.com/I1IR7g3EWe
— Orban Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) May 28, 2023
“Congratulations to President Erdogan on his undisputed victory!” the Hungarian Prime Minister wrote on Twitter.
“His victory is a clear proof of the Turkish people’s support for his independent foreign policy,” Putin said. “We are very grateful for your personal contribution to strengthening friendly Russian-Turkish relations,” he concluded.
Erdogan said he also received congratulatory phone calls from several leaders, including the presidents of Azerbaijan and Libya.
Erdogan’s opponent has been fiercely critical of the Turkish president, condemning his authoritarian rule and calling it “the most unfair election in years”.
Far from conceding defeat, Kemal Kilicadoglu expressed his “deep regret at the difficulties the country is facing” but vowed to continue his fight for democracy.
In a speech in Ankara, Kilistaroglu, who won 47.8% of the vote in the second round of the election, said the results showed the will of the people to replace and end the autocratic government. “We will be at the forefront of this struggle until true democracy comes to our country,” he added.
Erdogan, who has been in power for 20 years, is serving a historic third term.
Despite the economic crisis, restrictions on freedoms and the still felt effects of February’s powerful earthquake, which left more than 50,000 dead, Turks have decided to keep their faith in Erdogan. Solving problems unlike your opponent. Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Erdogan promised further increases in the minimum wage, including a 45 percent raise for civil servants and a month of free natural gas for families.
The current president won the popular vote of most of the provinces hit by strong earthquakes in February with concrete promises. Erdoğan promised to build homes for the homeless within a year, and that people would pay half the cost of housing over the next 20 years.
On the other hand, Kiliçdaroglu, the leader of the Republican Party (CHP, center-left and secular), who won 44.5% of the votes in the first round, emerged in this second round with a more radical and conservative posture in an attempt. To capture the ultra-nationalist vote.
Kilicadaroglu’s speech focused on anti-immigration policies that allegedly alienated voters. His promises, such as those related to the reconstruction of cities destroyed by earthquakes, seemed unrealistic to Turks, which also contributed to the loss of voters.
In this way, despite winning the first round with the promise of a transition to presidential rule – winning over many voters, namely students who want to end Erdogan’s authoritarian system – Kılıcedağrığlu was unable to overthrow Erdogan. Must be in power for at least five years.
Erdogan leads a presidential system while maintaining a vertical, nationalist leadership based on political Islam
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