Turkey voted in a historic run-off election on Sunday, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declaring victory after the results came in.
According to the news agency AFP, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has gained an advantage over his rival Kemal Kilic Daroglu in the run-off phase of the presidential elections. According to the latest results, President Erdogan will extend his two decades of continuous rule till 2028.
Earlier in the May 14 presidential election, none of the candidates could get a decisive lead ie 50 percent of the votes, after which the new president was decided today in a run-off election.
According to the polling results, President Erdoğan could get 49.3 percent of the votes cast, while his opponent, Kilic Daroglu, could get 45 percent of the votes.
In his first address since the election ended, Erdogan spoke to campaign supporters outside his home in Istanbul, according to the Associated Press.
He said that I thank everyone of my nation for entrusting me with the responsibility of ruling this country once again for the next five years.
Erdogan said: ‘The only winner today is Turkey.’
According to the official Anadolu Agency, according to the results so far, President Erdoğan is ahead with 52.12 percent of the votes, while the opposition candidate Kemal Kilic Daroglu has managed to get 47.88 percent of the votes.
On the other hand, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also congratulated Aroghan on his victory in the presidential elections.
Heartiest congratulations to my dear brother H.E. President @RTErdogan on his historic re-election as President, Republic of Turkiye. He is one of few world leaders whose politics has been anchored in public service. He has been a pillar of strength for the oppressed Muslims & a…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) May 28, 2023
Since the announcement of the victory, the series of congratulations to Erdogan continued. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, head of the Taliban government, Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund, and the heads of Azerbaijan, Hungary, and Libya also congratulated Turkish President Erdogan.
Earlier, after casting his ballot in the election on Sunday, Kilic Daroglu said: ‘I want to exercise my right to vote to free all my citizens from this dictatorial regime and bring true freedom and democracy to this country. I invite you.’
Kilic Daroglu was leading a large coalition in these elections under the banner of the National Alliance.
This national coalition consists of six opposition parties in opposition to the current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
On the other hand, 69-year-old Erdogan cast his vote with his wife Ayman in a conservative area of Istanbul.
President Erdoğan said on the occasion: ‘I ask our citizens to go out and vote without complacency.’
On the other hand, Turkish citizens had mixed opinions before the run-off election.
After casting her vote for Erdogan in the capital Ankara, a 45-year-old female voter told Reuters: ‘We have all seen what has happened in the last 20 years. We all witness how our country has changed. No one can deny that.
“I voted for Erdogan to improve my country in every aspect. The country has economic problems but they are problems to be solved. As long as we are strong, Turkey can overcome any problem.’
Gulkan Demiroz, 32, an anti-Erogan voter, said he hoped the vote would bring change and that otherwise his friends would move abroad, as he and his colleagues were considering doing for a better life.
The female voter said: ‘This country deserves to improve. We don’t need a powerful dictator to run the country alone.’
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Sokoro, a digital market expert and pro-Oglu voter in Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city, said: ‘Turkey has become an undemocratic country. I want to see a strong Turkey in the EU. I want to live in a country that respects the rule of law and the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.’
According to him: ‘Last time I was more optimistic but I believe there will be a change. If Erdogan wins, I will consider leaving Turkey.’
The election took place at a time when Turkey was facing an economic crisis, inflation and a severe earthquake in February.
The largest opposition party in Turkey is the Republican People’s Party (Jemohrit Khalq Party).
Founded by the founder of the secular Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the party is committed to the ideology of Turkish nationalism and is considered a center-left party in politics.
The Republican People’s Party has aligned itself with other nationalist and conservative forces in a coalition called the Nation Alliance.
Opposition leader Kemal Kilic Daroglu has been nominated as its presidential candidate by the ‘Nation Alliance’, he was the unanimous candidate of the alliance of six opposition parties.
He is a soft-spoken former civil servant and in that sense he is a stark contrast to Turkey’s powerful President Erdogan.
Kilic Daroglu is a very experienced politician, who was elected as a Member of Parliament in 2002.
Kilic Daroglu announced the large number of refugees who have taken refuge in Turkey since the start of the war in Syria in 2011.
In addition, the opposition has assured voters that it will improve ties with Europe after relations deteriorated sharply under Erdogan.
On the other hand, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has already promised to provide new homes to the millions affected by the earthquake within a year of the impact.