Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey claims victory in presidential runoff

Turkiye’s current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, declared victory in his country’s second round of elections, extending his rule to a third decade.

In his first remarks since the polls closed, Erdogan addressed supporters on a campaign bus outside his home in Istanbul.

I thank every member of our nation for entrusting me with the responsibility of governing this country once again for the next five years, he said.

He ridiculed his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, for his loss, waving goodbye, Kemal, as fans booed him.

The only winner today is Türkiye, Erdogan said.

Unofficial preliminary results from Turkish news agencies showed incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leading with 98 percent of the ballots counted in a presidential runoff that will decide whether the country’s leader extends his increasingly authoritarian rule to a third decade.

The state-run Anadolu news agency showed Erdogan with 52.1 percent and his rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, with 47.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the ANKA news agency, which is close to the opposition, showed the results at 51.9 percent for Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu at 48.1 percent.

In Istanbul, Erdogan’s supporters began celebrating even before the final results were in, waving Turkish or ruling party flags and honking car horns.

The result could have implications far beyond Ankara. Turkiye is located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and plays a key role in NATO.

Erdogan’s government vetoed Sweden’s offer to join NATO and bought Russian missile defense systems, prompting the United States to kick Turkiye out of a US-led fighter jet project. But he also helped broker a crucial deal that allowed grain shipments from Ukraine and averted a global food crisis.

Competing news agencies get their data from comprehensive poll counts that are collected by staff in the field and are strong in different regions, which explains some of the variance in preliminary data.

Turkiye’s electoral board sends its own data to political parties during the vote count, but does not declare the official results until days later.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has led Turkiye for 20 years, was the favorite to win a new five-year term in the second round, after narrowly missing outright victory in the first round on 14 May. May.

The divisive populist finished four percentage points ahead of Kilicdaroglu (pronounced KEH-lich-DAHR-OH-loo), the candidate of a six-party alliance. Erdogan’s performance came despite crippling inflation and the effects of a devastating earthquake three months ago. It was the first time that he did not win an election in which he was running as a candidate.

The two candidates offered markedly different visions of the country’s future and its recent past.

This election was held under very difficult circumstances, there were all kinds of slander and slander, Kilicdaroglu, 74, told reporters after casting his ballot. But I trust people’s common sense. Democracy will come, freedom will come, people will be able to roam the streets and freely criticize politicians.

Speaking to reporters after casting his ballot at a school in Istanbul, Erdogan noted that it is the first presidential runoff in Turkiye’s history.

He also praised the high voter turnout in the first round and said he expected turnout to be high again on Sunday. He voted at the same time as Kilicdaroglu, as local television showed the rivals casting votes on split screens.

I pray to God, that (the election) will be beneficial for our country and nation, he said.

Critics blame Erdogan’s unconventional economic policies for triggering inflation that has fueled a cost-of-living crisis. Many also criticized his government for its slow response to the earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people in Turkiye.

In the mainly Kurdish province of Diyarbakir, one of 11 regions hit by the February 6 earthquake, Mustafa Yesil, a 60-year-old retiree, said he voted for the change.

I’m not at all happy with the way this country is going. Let me be clear, if this current administration continues, I don’t see good things for the future, he said. I see that it is going to end badly, this administration has to change.

Mehmet Yurttas, an Erdogan supporter, disagreed.

I believe that our country is at its peak, in very good condition, said the 57-year-old merchant. The trajectory of our country is very good and will continue to be good.

Erdogan has retained the support of conservative voters who remain devoted to him for raising the profile of Islam in Turkiye, which was founded on secular principles, and for increasing the country’s influence in world politics.

If he wins, Erdogan, 69, could remain in power until 2028. A devout Muslim, he heads the conservative and religious Justice and Development Party, or AKP. Erdogan transformed the presidency from a largely ceremonial role to a powerful office through a narrowly won referendum in 2017 that scrapped Turkiye’s parliamentary system of government. He was the first directly elected president in 2014 and won the 2018 election that ushered in the executive presidency.

The first half of Erdogan’s term included reforms that allowed the country to start talks to join the European Union and economic growth that lifted many out of poverty. But then he moved to suppress freedoms and the media and concentrated more power into his own hands, especially after a failed coup attempt that Turkiye says was orchestrated by US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. . The cleric denies his involvement.

Erdogan’s rival is a mild-mannered former civil servant who has led the prosecular Republican People’s Party (CHP) since 2010. Kilicdaroglu campaigned on a promise to reverse Erdogan’s democratic rollback, restore the economy returning to more conventional policies and improving ties with the West.

In a frantic effort to reach out to nationalist voters in the runoff, Kilicdaroglu has vowed to send the refugees back and has ruled out peace talks with Kurdish militants if elected.

A defeat for Kilicdaroglu would add to a long list of electoral defeats for Erdogan and put pressure on him to resign as party chairman.

Erdogan’s AKP party and its allies retained the majority of seats in parliament following a legislative election that also took place on May 14.

Sunday also marked the 10th anniversary of the start of mass anti-government protests that erupted over plans to uproot trees in Istanbul’s Gezi Park and became one of the most serious challenges to Erdogan’s government.

Erdogan’s response to the protests, in which eight people were convicted for alleged involvement, heralded a crackdown on civil society and freedom of expression.

Following the May 14 vote, international observers pointed to the criminalization of the spread of false information and online censorship as evidence that Erdogan had an unfair advantage. They also said that the strong turnout showed the resilience of Turkish democracy.

Erdogan and pro-government media portrayed Kilicdaroglu, who was endorsed by the country’s pro-Kurdish party, as collusive with terrorists and supporting what they described as deviant LGBTQ rights.

Kilicdaroglu takes his orders from Qandil, Erdogan said repeatedly at recent campaign rallies, a reference to the mountains in Iraq where the leadership of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, is based.

The election was held as the country marked the centenary of its establishment as a republic, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.