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Turkey
Turkey's President and presidential candidate of AK Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan casts his ballot on the day of the Presidential runoff vote in a school in Istanbul on May 28, 2023. Photo: Murad Sezer/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won Sunday’s first-ever runoff presidential vote, maintaining his two-decade rule of the country following a highly-contested race with an opposition candidate, according to final results.
President Erdogan, the candidate of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), far-right Movement People’s Party (MHP) and other smaller parties, managed to maintain his seat on Sunday’s vote by winning 52.14 percent of the votes while his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu gained 47.86 percent, according to state-owned Anadolu Agency. The pro-opposition ANKA news agency gave an almost exact figure.
Turkey's electoral council published official figures which match those published by the state media.
Erdogan failed to overcome Kilicdaroglu in the first round on May 14. The Turkish president gained 49.5 percent of the votes while his rival won 44.8 percent.
In an address to supporters in Istanbul, Erdogan declared victory and said "the only winner is Turkey," adding that "Turkey opened its doors to a new century," referring to the 100th anniversary of the country's foundation.
"I hope we will deserve your trust in the next five years, like we did in the last 21 years," he noted.
Erdogan became the prime minister of Turkey in 2003 and remained in the position until 2014 when he became the president of the country - a ceremonial position at the time. He changed the country’s governing system from parliamentary to presidential through a referendum. This created a one-man rule in the country as it abolished the role of the prime minister.
Addressing his supporters in Ankara, Kilicdaroglu called the election "the most unfair in years", adding that the people's will for change was evident in the vote
Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) is the oldest Turkish party and its first leader, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, is the founder of modern Turkey. The party has been led by Kilicdaroglu since 2010 when its then-leader Deniz Baykal resigned over a scandal. The 74-year-old politician has transformed the party from being a hardline Kemalist one to consisting mainly of pro-West politicians, including Kurds.
Both candidates tried to woo the nationalist votes after the third candidate, Sinan Ogan, surprisingly won over five percent of the votes. Ogan later announced his support for Erdogan after a bilateral meeting.
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