2023-05-15 08:42:02
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s presidential election appeared headed for a runoff Monday. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has ruled the country firmly for 20 years, got more votes than his main rival, but not enough for an outright victory.
Once 99.4% of the votes in the country and 84% of those deposited abroad had been counted, Erdogan had 49.4% of the votes, and his main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, had 45%, according to Ahmet Yener, head of the Supreme Electoral Board, told reporters. A third candidate, the nationalist Sinan Ogan, got 5.2%.
Erdogan, 69, told supporters early Monday that he could still win. However, he said he would respect the nation’s decision if the contest went to a second round on May 28.
Turkey is part of NATO and is in a strategic location – it has a Black Sea coast to the north and is bordered by Iran, Iraq and Syria to the south – and the elections aroused great interest as to whether the country would remain under the control of an increasingly authoritarian president or if he could take a more democratic path advocated by Kilicdaroglu.
Opinion polls ahead of Sunday’s vote gave Kilicdaroglu, the candidate of a six-party opposition coalition, a slim lead over Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003 as prime minister or president.
Kilicdaroglu was optimistic about a second round win.
“Of course we will win in the second round (…) and we will bring democracy,” said the 74-year-old opposition leader, who assured that Erdogan has lost the confidence of a country that is now demanding changes.
Ogan has not said who he will support if the election goes to a second round. He is believed to have received support from voters who want change after two decades under Erdogan but are not convinced of the six-party opposition coalition’s ability to govern.
The results indicated that Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party would also retain its majority in the 600-seat parliament, although the assembly has lost much legislative power after a change in the country’s system of government to an executive presidency, approved by the minimum in a referendum in 2017.
Erdogan’s ruling alliance hovered around 49.3% of the vote in parliamentary elections, compared to 35.2% for Kilicdaroglu’s Nation Alliance and just over 10% for a pro-Kurdish party.
The fact that Erdogan appeared to have retained a majority increased his chances of winning a second-round vote, as more voters were likely to support Erdogan in order to avoid a divided government.
This year’s elections were being held against a backdrop of economic difficulties, in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and following an earthquake in February that killed more than 50,000 people. Western countries and foreign investors were paying attention to the outcome also because of Erdogan’s unorthodox economic management and his often vehement but successful efforts to put Turkey at the center of international negotiations.
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