Erdogan wins 5th term as Turkey’s president
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won reelection on Sunday, extending his rule into a third decade in a country reeling from high inflation and the atermath of an earthquake that levelled entire cities.
With nearly 99% of ballot boxes opened, unofficial results from competing news agencies showed Erdogan with 52% of the vote, compared with 48% for his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
In his first comments since the polls closed, Erdogan spoke to supporters on a campaign bus outside his home in Istanbul.
“I thank each member of our nation for entrusting me with the responsibility to govern this country once again for the upcoming five years,” he said.
“We will be ruling the country for the coming five years,” Erdogan told his cheering supporters from atop a bus in his home district in Istanbul. “God willing, we will be deserving of your trust.”
He ridiculed his challenger for his loss, saying “bye bye bye, Kemal,” as supporters booed.
“The only winner today is Turkey,” Erdogan said. He promised to work hard for Turkey’s second century. The country marks its centennial this year. “No one can look down on our nation,” he said.
UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a message of congratulations to Erdogan on his re-election as president.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, also dispatched similar messages to Erdogan.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani wished the Turkish president success in a tweet. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban congratulated Erdogan via Twiter for an “unquestionable election victory.” Other congratulations poured in from Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Libya, Algeria, Serbia and Uzbekistan.
Supporters of the populist were celebrating even before the final results arrived, waving Turkish or ruling party flags, and honking car horns, chanting his name and “in the name of God, God is great.”
With a third term, Erdogan will have an even stronger hand domestically and internationally, and the election results will have implications far beyond Ankara. Turkey stands at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and it plays a key role in Nato.
Erdogan’s government vetoed Sweden’s bid to join Nato and purchased Russian missiledefence systems, which prompted the United States to oust Turkey from a Us-led fighter-jet project. But it also helped broker a crucial deal that allowed Ukrainian grain shipments and averted a global food crisis.
Erdogan, who has been at Turkey’s helm for 20 years, came just short of victory in the first round of elections on May 14. It was the first time he failed to win an election outright, but he made up for it Sunday.
His performance came despite crippling inflation and the effects of a devastating earthquake three months ago.
The two candidates offered sharply different visions of the country’s future, and its recent past.
Erdogan has retained the backing of conservative voters who remain devoted to him for liting Islam’s profile in the Turkey, which was founded on secular principles, and for raising the country’s influence in world politics.
Erdogan supporters who were gathered outside his Istanbul residence chanted Allahu Akbar, or God is Greatest.
“I expect everything to become beter,” said Nisa, 28, a headscarved woman wearing a headband with Erdogan’s name.
Another Erdogan supporter said Turkey would get stronger with him in office for five more years.
“There are issues, problems in every country around the world, in European countries as well... With strong leadership we will overcome Turkey’s problems as well,” said Mert, 39, who had come to celebrate with his son.
Bugra Oztug, 24, who voted for Kilicdaroglu, said she was not surprised at the result, blaming the opposition for failing to change.
“I feel sad and disappointed but I am not hopeless. I still think there are people who can see the realities and truth,” Oztug said.
UAE leaders congratulate Erdogan; Turkish president says Turks have given him the responsibility of governing for the next five years; the only winner today is Turkey, adds Erdogan.