the turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoganwho has been in power for 20 years, returned this Sunday to victory in the second round of the presidential elections, defeating his rival Kemal Kilicdarogluby almost nine percentage points, according to provisional results.
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Our nation has entrusted us with the responsibility of running the country for the next five years.
Erdogan prevailed after the scrutiny of 54.60 percent of the votes, according to official sources. At that point in the count, Erdogan monopolized the 54.47 percent of the vote against the 45.58% of his rival, declared the chairman of the Turkish electoral commission YSK, Ahmet Yener.
That percentage of votes makes Erdogan the virtual winner of the elections, according to official sources.
Shortly after, Erdogan came out to claim his victory: “Our nation has entrusted us with the responsibility of governing the country for the next five years,” he declared.
Erdogan to his supporters from the top of a bus in his home district of Istanbul.
Erdogan defeated opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu (photo)
“We will keep all our promises,” said the head of state, who has been in power for 20 years, assuring that “every election is a rebirth.” “These elections have shown that no one can attack the achievements of this nation.”
Previously, the official Anadolu news agency had reported that
Erdogan led the count of votes with 52.7%, compared to 47.3% for Kiliçdaroglu, while the private agency ANKA also placed the current president and head of government in the lead, although with a tighter result.
After knowing these results, the Prime Minister of Hungary, the ultranationalist Viktor Orban, congratulated Erdogan on his “unquestionable” victory. “Congratulations to President Erdogan on his unquestionable electoral victory!” Orbán wrote in a tweet.
And more than an hour before meeting, The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, congratulated Recep Tayyip Erdogan “for his victory” in the elections that the country is holding today when the vote was still underway and the winner of the second round was not yet known.
On May 14, none of the candidates achieved the necessary majority to become head of state in the first round of the presidential elections, which were held together with the legislative ones.
That day Erdogan won by touching an absolute majority by obtaining 49.5% of the votes, compared to 44.9% for Kiliçdaroglu, with a participation in the polls of 89% in Turkish territory and 86% if they enter into the calculation also the more than three million citizens residing abroad.
The polls were open this Sunday for nine hours, between 08:00 and 17:00 local time so that 61 million people could cast their ballots.
News in development…
Ankara, Efe-AFP
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