Erdogan victorious after historic runoff in Türkiye
Türkiye’s incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has secured another five years in office, after narrowly winning Sunday’s runoff vote.
Erdogan beat his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu after reaping 52.14% of the votes, Election Board (YSK) head Ahmet Yener said on Sunday.
The Turkish president spoke to supporters shortly after declaring victory, saying voters had given him the responsibility of governing for the next five years.
“The only winner today is Türkiye,” Erdogan said.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Kilicdaroglu condemned the “most unfair election in years,” yet pledged to continue “leading this struggle” against the Erdogan government.
“We will continue to be at the forefront of this struggle until real democracy comes to our country,” he said.
“My real sadness is about the difficulties awaiting the country,” he said, without explicitly conceding defeat.
Erdogan calls for ‘unity and solidarity’
In a victory speech on Sunday night, Erdogan called for “unity and solidarity,” vowing to leave all disputes behind and unite the nation behind “national values and dreams.”
Erdogan said his narrow win in the race was one for “Turkish democracy” and all of the country’s 85 million citizens.
“We have no resentment, no anger or frustration with anyone,” the French AFP news agency quoted him as saying. “Today, nobody lost. The entire nation of 85 million won.”
Then, Erdogan switched to declaring “terrorist organisations” as the losers of the vote.
He acknowledged that the country’s severely high inflation was the most urgent issue at hand, but said it was not a difficult one to solve, promising inflation would fall and vowing to build a strong economy based on stability and confidence.
He also pledged to secure the return of an additional 1 million Syrians who had sought refuge in neighbouring Türkiye during their country’s civil war.
Erdogan said rebuilding cities hit by a devastating earthquake in February would be his priority.
What does this mean for Türkiye?
Erdogan’s latest victory makes him Türkiye’s longest serving ruler since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded the republic a century ago. It will reinvigorate his push for unconventional economic, domestic and foreign policies.
The leader of Türkiye’s conservative AKP (Justice and Development Party) has touted Islamic values and a populist outlook.
During his two-decade reign, he emboldened Türkiye’s conservative citizens who had long felt marginalized under consecutive secular rulers. Erdogan, for example, has vowed to enshrine the right to wear the Islamic headscarf in the constitution and declared Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia a mosque after a court ruling.
He also challenged Western partners and NATO allies on several occasions, most recently by delaying Norway’s succession to the alliance and blocking Sweden’s altogether.