Erdogan wins Turkish presidential vote
Ties with West at issue as he seeks to bolster power
ISTANBUL Turkish voters elected Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday to become the country’s first directly elected president, the head of Turkey’s election commission said.
Sadi Guven said Sunday night that “it is understood that Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won an absolute majority of the votes.” He said the official vote count would be announced today. The main rival candidate, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, also conceded.
“I will not be the president of only those who voted for me, I will be the president of 77 million,” Erdogan told supporters.
Erdogan, 60, who was barred from being prime minister for a fourth term, wants to strengthen the largely ceremonial post of president. That could impact foreign policy with the West. Turkey plays a pivotal role in NATO because of its strategic location.
His foreign policy views have been controversial. He sides with Hamas in the ongoing conflict with Israel and Gaza. He supports the Islamist militant opposition in Syria. He recently said on TV that he no longer communicates directly with President Obama.
A week ago at a rally, Erdogan compared Israel to Adolf Hitler. “Like Hitler, who sought to establish a perfect Aryan race, Israel is seeking the same,” he said.
“I am not sure that Washington is very happy or exhilarated in seeing someone like Erdogan leading the country,” said Barçin Yinanç, editorial editor of the Hurriyet Daily News.
Sinan Ülgen, a former Turkish diplomat and visiting scholar of Carnegie Europe in Brussels, said Erdogan “wants to be both president and prime minister at the same time.”
In Turkey, Erdogan came under fierce criticism last year after ordering and then praising a police crackdown on protesters trying to save Istanbul’s Taksin Gezi Park from demolition as part of a redevelopment project. The park has since been saved, but 11 people died and more than 8,000 were injured in the violence.
Still, he won in the first round of voting without a runoff.
“Erdogan is very clever, and he has done a lot for the economy,” said Yasar Cosun, 52. “He is creating a lot of new jobs and consolidating democracy and fostering freedom for Islam.”