Turkey’s Erdogan declares victory in presidential election after contentious campaign

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday declared victory within the presidential election, capping off a detailed race and lengthening his more and more authoritarian rule into a 3rd decade. 

Erdogan’s victory comes on the heels of excessive inflation and the aftermath of an earthquake that leveled whole cities. 

Talking from on prime of a bus in Istanbul after the polls closed, Erdogan addressed his supporters, thanking them for entrusting him with the presidency for 5 extra years.

“The one winner right this moment is Turkey,” Erdogan mentioned. “Nobody can look down on our nation.”

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS CONDEMNS GREECE’S TREATMENT, DEPORTATIONS OF MIGRANTS

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan greets his supporters following early exit ballot outcomes for the second spherical of the presidential election in Istanbul, Turkey Might 28, 2023. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Press Workplace/Handout by way of REUTERS )

He ridiculed his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, for his loss, saying “bye bye bye, Kemal,” as supporters booed.

With practically 99% of poll bins opened, outcomes from competing information companies confirmed Erdogan with 52% of the vote, in contrast with 48% for Kilicdaroglu.

Kilicdaroglu mentioned the election was “probably the most unjust ever,” with all state assets mobilized for Erdogan.

“We’ll proceed to be on the forefront of this battle till actual democracy involves our nation,” he mentioned in Ankara. He thanked the greater than 25 million individuals who voted for him and requested them to “stay upright.” 

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, presidential candidate of Turkey’s essential opposition alliance, gestures after talking following early exit ballot outcomes for the second spherical of the presidential election in Ankara, Turkey Might 28, 2023. (REUTERS/Yves Herman TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

A 3rd time period provides Erdogan a fair stronger hand domestically and internationally, and the election outcomes could have implications past Turkey, which stands on the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and performs a key role in NATO.

On the worldwide stage, Erdogan’s authorities vetoed Sweden’s bid to hitch NATO and bought Russian missile-defense programs, which prompted the USA to oust Turkey from a U.S.-led fighter-jet challenge. But it surely additionally helped dealer a vital deal that allowed Ukrainian grain shipments and averted a world meals disaster.

Erdogan, who has been at Turkey’s helm for 20 years, got here simply in need of victory within the first spherical of elections on Might 14. It was the primary time he did not win an election outright, however he made up for it Sunday.

A person walks previous billboards displaying Turkish President and Individuals’s Alliance’s presidential candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (AP Photograph/Francisco Seco)

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A religious Muslim, he heads the conservative and non secular Justice and Growth Occasion, or AKP. Erdogan reworked the presidency from a largely ceremonial position to a robust workplace by way of a narrowly received 2017 referendum that scrapped Turkey’s parliamentary system of governance. He was the primary straight elected president in 2014, and received the 2018 election that ushered within the government presidency.

Erdogan, 69, is ready to stay in energy till 2028.

The Related Press contributed to this report.