ISTANBUL: The head of Turkey’s Election Commission announced on Sunday that Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been re-elected as the country’s President. The Commission said that President Erdogan won Turkey’s presidency over opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the 2nd-round runoff vote. The chief of the Commission said that the incumbent President won the contest with 52.14 percent, while Kilicdaroglu got 47.86 percent of the votes following counting 99.43 percent of the votes.
Erdogan, the President of Turkey, declared victory on Sunday in a historic runoff election that presented the toughest challenge to his two-decade rule.
Addressing his enthusiastic supporters from atop a bus in his home district in Istanbul, Erdogan expressed gratitude and confidence, stating, “We will be ruling the country for the coming five years. God willing, we will be deserving of your trust.”
Victory Solidifies Erdogan’s Position in History
This victory solidifies Erdogan’s position in history as he extends his rule for a further five years, surpassing the 15-year presidency of Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Celebrations erupted among Erdogan’s supporters as crowds gathered at the presidential palace in Ankara, eagerly awaiting his victory speech. Prior to addressing the crowd, Erdogan appeared outside his residence in Istanbul’s Uskudar, where he expressed gratitude and sang before his adoring supporters.
The two-month election period witnessed one of the most bitter campaigns in recent memory, marked by heated rhetoric and accusations between the candidates. Erdogan repeatedly referred to his opponent as being backed by “terrorists,” alluding to the support Kilicdaroglu received from the main pro-Kurdish party. In response, Kilicdaroglu ended the campaign by labeling Erdogan a “coward.” The campaign also took on a nationalist tone, with promises from the opposition to address the issue of Syrian and other refugee populations in the country.
Sunday’s run-off vote marked the first time since the introduction of direct presidential elections in 2014 that the vote had proceeded to a second stage. Despite the need to vote again just two weeks after the initial election, voter turnout remained high at around 85 percent.
The elections, which included a parliamentary poll alongside the leadership race on May 14, were widely regarded as the most significant in recent Turkish history, coinciding with the centenary year of the republic’s foundation. The choice between the candidates was portrayed in stark terms, with Erdogan offering an extension of his two-decade rule while Kilicdaroglu promised a return to a parliamentary system.
The elections took place against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis, with inflation peaking at 85 percent in October and recent earthquakes in February that resulted in the deaths of more than 50,000 people in the southeastern part of the country. Erdogan, who came to power in 2003 initially as prime minister, offered a vision of further development, vowing to build upon the improvements made by his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. His party’s success in the parliamentary election, securing 323 of 600 seats in alliance with other parties, allowed Erdogan to promise stability through control of both the legislature and the government.
Kilicdaroglu, on the other hand, pledged democratisation and a rollback of Erdogan’s perceived “one-man rule,” while addressing what he called economic mismanagement. The nationalist tone leading up to the presidential run-off was an attempt to gain the support of voters who previously backed Sinan Ogan, a candidate who secured over 5 percent of the vote on May 14. Ogan eventually endorsed Erdogan, while other nationalists threw their support behind Kilicdaroglu.
During the first round, Erdogan secured 49.5 percent of the votes compared to Kilicdaroglu’s 44.9 percent. With the conclusion of the two-month campaign period, Turkish voters now have ten months to prepare for local elections in March, during which Erdogan will seek to regain control of cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, which were taken by the opposition in 2019.
