di Shorsh Surme –
The incumbent Turkish president Recep Tayyp Erdogan wins but does not win hands down in the presidential runoff. At the end of the count, the results gave him 52.14% of the preferences, while the opposition candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu obtained 47.86% of the votes.
In the first round Erdogan had not obtained an absolute majority stopping at 49.5% of the votes, only 5 points behind Kilicdaroglu, but after the third place, the ultranationalist Sinan Ogan, he had given his endorsementthe Turkish president’s victory appeared to be a foregone conclusion.
Erdogan won but did not shine, a reality recognized by the Turkish president himself who admitted the strong haemorrhage of votes compared to the previous presidential elections, where he was elected in the first round with 52.59% of the votes.
The majority of Turks therefore chose to continue with Erdogan, but what weighed compared to the 2018 elections were the high cost of living, the economic crisis, the poor management of the post-earthquake, an unshared intervention in Syria, the social pressure of refugees and the continued repression of the Kurds. On the other hand, his attempt at mediation in the Ukrainian conflict, which has so far produced the agreement on wheat, is good.
Upon confirming the election result, the Turkish leader said that “today we are building our history once again, we will continue to work hard”, and that “With this victory, the doors of Turkey’s century have opened”. He then thanked the voters saying that “We will live up to the trust you have given us”.