Erdogan claims victory in Turkish elections

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared victory Sunday after unofficial election returns showed him winning re- election to an office that will be endowed with sweeping new powers that critics warned could place the country under one- man rule.

Unofficial results published by the state news agency showed the 64- year- old leader winning more than 50 percent of the vote — enough to avoid a runoff. However, his closest challenger, Muharrem Ince, refused to concede defeat while results from the national election authority were pending.

The presidential election and a parliamentary election also held Sunday took place more than a year early. They were the last step needed to complete Turkey’s transition from a parliamentary system of government to a strong presidential system, a change voters approved last year.

“The nation has entrusted to me the responsibility of the presidency and the executive duty,” Erdogan said in televised remarks from Istanbul after a near- complete vote count published by the state- run Anadolu news agency had him receiving 52.5 percent of the vote and the secular Ince, his nearest challenger, 30.7 percent.

Cheering Erdogan supporters waving Turkish flags gathered outside the president’s official residence in Istanbul, chanting, “Here’s the president, here’s the commander.”

Thousands of jubilant supporters of the pro- Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, also spilled into the streets of the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir after unofficial results from Anadolu showed the party surpassing the 10 percent threshold needed to enter parliament, garnering 11.5 percent.

The HDP’s performance was a particular success since presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtas, eight more of its lawmakers and thousands of party members campaigned from jails and prisons. HDP said more than 350 of its election workers have been detained since April 28.