Erdogan extends two-decade rule in Turkey runoff

ISTANBUL (AFP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appealed for national unity yesterday after winning a historic runoff election that extended two decades of his transformative but divisive rule until 2028.

The 69-year-old overcame Turkey’s worst economic crisis in a generation and the most powerful opposition alliance to ever face his Islamic-rooted party on his way to his toughest election win.

Streets erupted in car-honking jubilation and tributes poured in from across the world as Turkey’s most important leader in modern history led a sea of supporters in celebratory song outside his presidential palace in Ankara.

“We should come together in unity and solidarity,” Erdogan told the chanting and flag-waving crowd. “We call for this with all our heart.”

Near-complete results showed Erdogan beating secular opposition challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu by four percentage points.

“I look forward to continuing to work together as NATO Allies on bilateral issues and shared global challenges,” US President Joe Biden tweeted as Erdogan spoke.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said through a spokesman that he “looks forward to further strengthening the cooperation between Turkiye and the United Nations,” using an alternate spelling for Turkey.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin said the outcome showed the support for Erdogan’s “efforts to strengthen state sovereignty and pursue an independent foreign policy.”

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted to keep working with Erdogan “for the security and stability of Europe.”

Leaders across Europe and the Arab world also sent their congratulations – as did former US president Donald Trump.

Turkey’s longest-serving leader was tested like never before in what was widely seen as the country’s most consequential election in its 100-year history as a post-Ottoman republic.

Kilicdaroglu pushed Erdogan into Turkey’s first runoff on May 14 and narrowed the margin further in the second round. Opposition supporters viewed it as a do-or-die chance to save Turkey from being turned into an autocracy by a man whose consolidation of power rivals that of Ottoman sultans.

Kilicdaroglu’s brief concession statement expressed “real sadness about the big difficulties awaiting the country” with Erdogan.

Erdogan is lionized by poorer and more rural swathes of Turkey’s fractured society because of his promotion of religious freedoms and modernization of once-dilapidated cities in the Anatolian heartland.

But he has caused growing consternation across the Western world because of his crackdowns on dissent and pursuit of a muscular foreign policy.