The second round of the presidential election is taking place in Turkiye on Sunday, with incumbent head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan and opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu vying for the nation's highest office.
The first round two weeks ago saw Erdogan clinch 49.52% of the votes, and Kilicdaroglu 44.88%. To win the election, a candidate must receive a simple majority of the votes.
Erdogan said that on May 28, Turkish voters would have to make "the most important choice of their lives, a decision concerning the future" of the country and its children. Kilicdaroglu, for his part, noted that "for the first time, Turkish citizens will have to choose between two candidates and two worldviews.
Sinan Ogan, the third-placed candidate in the first round, who received 5% of the votes, announced on Monday that he was throwing his support behind Erdogan in the upcoming run-off and called on his supporters to vote for the incumbent president.
🏛🇹🇷 Situation at the presidential palace in Ankara now. People are gathering in front of the presidential palace and undergoing security checks. Video by Sputnik correspondent pic.twitter.com/KCpK5j9kdT
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) May 28, 2023
Turkiye, with a population of 85 million, has more than 64 million eligible voters.
Erdogan Beats Kilicdarogly 53.41% Against 46.59% After All Ballots Tabulated in Turkiye, Abroad - Preliminary Results From Turkish Election Commision
Erdogan Gains Over 54% of Vote in Presidential Runoff - Preliminary Results of Turkish Electoral Commission
Preliminary results unveiled by the Turkish election commission on Sunday put President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the runoff election with 54.47% support after nearly 55% of ballots processed.
"We counted 54.6% of the votes. [As many as] 45.53% voted for Kilicdaroglu and 54.47% for Erdogan," Ahmet Yener, the head of the election commission, told a press conference
Erdogan Ahead of Kilicdaroglu by Over 5 Points After 91% Ballot Boxes Counted
Initial results of Turkey's runoff election show incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leading his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu by over 5 percentage points, with votes from 91.55% of ballot boxes processed, the state-run TRT Haber broadcaster reported.
Erdogan got 52.61% of the vote versus Kilicdaroglu with 47.39%, the report said
Results of Turkish Presidential Election Runoff
The second round of the 2023 presidential election in the Republic of Turkiye has taken place today, May 28.
The first round of the election on May 14 failed to produce a clear winner as none of the candidates managed to get the absolute majority of the votes.
The runoff is expected to determine which of the two candidates - incumbent president and People’s Alliance’s candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan or opposition Nation Alliance candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu - will lead Turkiye for the next five years.
Turkey headed for a runoff vote after President Tayyip Erdogan led over his opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Sunday's election but fell short of an outright majority to extend his 20-year rule of the NATO-member country.
Neither Erdogan nor Kilicdaroglu cleared the 50% threshold needed to avoid a second round, to be held on May 28, in an election seen as a verdict on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian path.
The presidential vote will decide not only who leads Turkey but also whether it reverts to a more secular, democratic path, how it will handle its severe cost of living crisis, and manage key relations with Russia, the Middle East and the West.
Kilicdaroglu, who said he would prevail in the runoff, urged his supporters to be patient and accused Erdogan's party of interfering with the counting and reporting of results.
But Erdogan performed better than pre-election polls had predicted, and he appeared in a confident and combative mood as he addressed his supporters.
"We are already ahead of our closest rival by 2.6 million votes. We expect this figure to increase with official results," Erdogan said.
With almost 97% of ballot boxes counted, Erdogan led with 49.39% of votes and Kilicdaroglu had 44.92%, according to state-owned news agency Anadolu. Turkey's High Election Board gave Erdogan 49.49% with 91.93% of ballot boxes counted.
Thousands of Erdogan voters converged on the party's headquarters in Ankara, blasting party songs from loudspeakers and waving flags. Some danced in the street.
"We know it is not exactly a celebration yet but we hope we will soon celebrate his victory. Erdogan is the best leader we had for this country and we love him," said Yalcin Yildrim, 39, who owns a textile factory.
ERDOGAN HAS EDGE
The results reflected deep polarization in a country at a political crossroads. The vote was set to hand Erdogan's ruling alliance a majority in parliament, giving him a potential edge heading into the runoff.
Opinion polls before the election had pointed to a very tight race but gave Kilicdaroglu, who heads a six-party alliance, a slight lead. Two polls on Friday showed him above the 50% threshold.
The country of 85 million people - already struggling with soaring inflation - now faces two weeks of uncertainty that could rattle markets, with analysts expecting gyrations in the local currency and stock market.
"The next two weeks will probably be the longest two weeks in Turkey's history and a lot will happen. I would expect a significant crash in the Istanbul stock exchange and lots of fluctuations in the currency," said Hakan Akbas, managing director of Strategic Advisory Services, a consultancy.
"Erdogan will have an advantage in a second vote after his alliance did far better than the opposition's alliance," he added.
A third nationalist presidential candidate, Sinan Ogan, stood at 5.3% of the vote. He could be a "kingmaker" in the runoff depending on which candidate he endorses, analysts said.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue The opposition said Erdogan's party was delaying full results from emerging by lodging objections, while authorities were publishing results in an order that artificially boosted Erdogan's tally.
Kilicdaroglu, in an earlier appearance, said that Erdogan's party was "destroying the will of Turkey" by objecting to the counts of more than 1,000 ballot boxes. "You cannot prevent what will happen with objections. We will never let this become a fait accompli," he said.
But the mood at the opposition party's headquarters, where Kilicdaroglu expected victory, was subdued as the votes were counted. His supporters waved flags of Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and beat drums.
PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY
Kilicdaroglu has pledged to revive democracy after years of state repression, return to orthodox economic policies, empower institutions that lost autonomy under Erdogan and rebuild frail ties with the West.
Thousands of political prisoners and activists could be released if the opposition prevails.
Critics fear Erdogan will govern ever more autocratically if he wins another term. The 69-year-old president, a veteran of a dozen election victories, says he respects democracy.
In the parliamentary vote, the People's Alliance of Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AKP, the nationalist MHP and others fared better than expected and were headed for a majority.
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