President Sheikh Mohamed congratulates Turkey on vote

President Sheikh Mohamed has congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the success of the electoral process in his country.

The government of Turkey proceeded with national elections last Sunday, despite challenges caused by a powerful earthquake that hit the country in February.

Mr Erdogan now faces a runoff vote against rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu on May 28, after neither candidate won more than 50 per cent of votes in the first round.

Mr Erdogan received 49.52 per cent of the votes.

During Thursday’s phone call, Sheikh Mohamed said he hoped the elections would “serve the greater good of the Turkish people”, state news agency Wam reported.

Several leaders from the region have spoken to Mr Erdogan since the vote, including Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim and Nechirvan Barzani, President of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported.

On Wednesday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington was willing to work with whoever won the run-off election in Turkey.

“I believe that whoever prevails in the election, whether it’s the incumbent or the challenger, we will continue to work with Turkey on a range of issues, whether it’s on Ukraine, or regional issues in the Middle East,” he said.

Turkey is a Nato ally and “that’s going to continue regardless of who the leader is”, Mr Sullivan said.

“They had a first round, they’ll have a second round, and we will be prepared to work with whoever is the winner of the election,” he said.

The People’s Alliance, comprising Mr Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its partners, won 322 of 600 seats in the new legislature, achieving a majority.

He has told voters that re-electing him would ensure stability and that Turkey needed harmony between parliament and the presidency for an effective government.

“The strong presence of the People’s Alliance in parliament also makes us stronger as the government. The harmony between the executive and the legislature would help development of our country,” he told CNN Turk.

A breakdown of the voting tallies showed the AKP came out on top, even in 10 of the 11 provinces hit by the devastating quake, in which more than 50,000 people were killed.

Nationalist candidate Sinan Ogan came third with 5.2 per cent support.

All eyes are now on how his supporters will vote on May 28.

In a possible boost to Mr Erdogan, Mr Ogan told Reuters he would endorse Mr Kilicdaroglu in the run-off only if the latter ruled out any concessions to a pro-Kurdish party.

Mr Ogan told AFP he was open to dialogue but may take a few days to make up his mind about who – if anyone – to endorse.

“A decision will be made after talks with Mr Erdogan and Mr Kilicdaroglu,” he said.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington was willing to work with whoever won the run-off