Erdogan wins new term
> Turkish president secures sweeping executive powers
ISTANBUL: Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan emerged victorious yesterday from his biggest electoral challenge in a decade and a half, giving him the sweeping, executive powers he has long sought and extending his grip on the nation of 81 million until at least 2023.
The most popular – yet divisive – leader in modern Turkish history, Erdogan pledged there would be no retreat from his drive to transform Turkey, a deeply polarised nation that is both a Nato member and, at least nominally, a candidate to join the European Union.
Erdogan, 64, and his ruling AK Party on Sunday claimed victory in presidential and parliamentary polls, overcoming a revitalised opposition that in recent weeks had gained considerable momentum and looked capable of staging an upset.
He took 52.5% of the vote in the presidential race, with more than 99% of the votes counted. His AK Party took 42.5% in the parliamentary polls, and was boosted by its nationalist allies, which outstripped expectations and took 11.1%.
“It is out of the question for us to turn back from where we’ve brought our country in terms of democracy and the economy,” Erdogan said in an address on Sunday. Voter turnout was high, at nearly 87%. A masterful campaigner, Erdogan has overseen years of strong economic growth and won the loyalty of millions of pious, working class Turks for delivering schools, hospitals and infrastructure.
But he has also launched a widening crackdown against opponents, that has seen some 160,000 people jailed and media outlets shut down.
The vote ushers in the powerful executive presidency backed by a narrow majority in a 2017 referendum.
Critics have said it will further erode democracy and entrench one-man rule.
The state-run Anadolu news agency said that, based on unofficial results, the AK Party and its MHP alliance will hold 343 seats in Turkey’s 600-seat parliament, with 293 of those for the AK Party and 50 for the nationalists.
The main opposition will have 146, the pro-Kurdish HDP 67 and the breakaway nationalist Iyi Party 44.
The opposition had said late on Sunday it is still too early to concede defeat.
The main opposition’s candidate, the combative former teacher Muharrem Ince, took nearly 31%.
Ince’s silence in the aftermath of the vote brought him widespread criticism from supporters on social media.
Erdogan has repeatedly cast his opponents as enemies of democracy, tapping into the groundswell of nationalist feeling that followed a failed coup in 2016.
“There is no stopping for us until we bring Turkey, which we saved from plotters, coupists and political and economic hitmen, street gangs and terrorist organisations, to among the top 10 economies in the world,” he said. – Reuters