Erdogan eyes third term after first-round win
Turkish president fails to clinch outright election victory, but is expected to prevail in run-off vote
‘The opposition raised the expectations of its supporters too high’
TURKEY’S strongman leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan is on course for a third term after comfortably beating his closest rival in the first round of presidential elections.
However, the final vote will go to a run-off for the first time in Turkey’s history, with Mr Erdogan narrowly finishing below the 50 per cent threshold needed for an outright victory. Mr Erdogan’s performance has surprised some observers, with rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a secular 74-year-old bureaucrat who liberals hoped would end Mr Erdogan’s controversial rule, leading in polls before the vote.
With most votes counted yesterday, Mr Erdogan had 49.51 per cent and his main opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu 44.88 per cent. Turnout was a very high 88.8 per cent.
Mr Kilicdaroglu has encouraged supporters to “not fall into despair”.
Sunday’s elections were a make-orbreak moment for Turkey’s leader, who is credited with transforming the country but also overseeing the deterioration of civil liberties and the tanking of the lira. Yesterday’s initial market reaction saw the Turkish lira dip to twomonth low. The opposition was seen rising in the polls soquickly in recent weeks they launched a campaign ad under the slogan “Let’s wrap it up in the first round!” while Mr Erdogan also clearly appeared to be counting on an outright win.
“The opposition made the mistake of raising the expectations of its supporters too high, and managing those expectations is difficult,” Orcun Selcuk, assistant professor of political science at Luther College in Iowa, told The Daily Telegraph. For Mr Erdogan, this is the worst result of his career, which could explain why he kept silent all day yesterday. “We don’t know yet if the elections ended in the first round … if our nation has chosen a second round, we also welcome it,” he said in a traditional balcony address to supporters from his party’s headquarters in Ankara. “The fact that the election results have not yet been finalised does not change the fact that we are the preference of our nation.”
Many MPS from Mr Kilicdaroglu’s party appear to have turned off their phones and stonewalled journalists’ questions yesterday.
Breaking the silence, Mr Kilicdaroglu put out a nine-second video last night, issuing a battle call of sorts as he waved his hand and banged it on the desk, saying: “I am here! You’re in my heart! We will fight till the end!”
Official results are expected to be declared on Thursday, and the first runoff presidential elections in Turkey’s history are scheduled for May 28.