Turkey's presidential election is being watched very closely in the West, as President Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government has accused the West of plotting to bring him down. Supporters outside party headquarters chanted one of his slogans, "everything will be all right", but it was not clear for them that it would. President Erdogan has defied many pollsters who said his rival had the edge and could even win outright without a run-off.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu are preparing for a possible runoff in the nation's closest election in decades. Vote counts suggest that Erdogan is leading his main opponent by a narrow margin, but below the 50 percent mark needed to be declared the outright victor. A runoff round for the presidency between the two will take place on May 28 if results are confirmed by Turkey’s Supreme Election Board.
Erdogan said he was confident of an outright win in the first round, while Kilicdaroglu accused ruling party AKP of interfering with vote count through repeated objections. The election could also impact geopolitical ties in region since Turkey has maintained relations with Russia following invasion Ukraine.
Anadolu news agency reports that Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party has won majority 600-seat parliament with opposition CHP coalition winning only166 seats according preliminary results showing AK Party secured 266 seats whilst main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu's Republican People’s Party (CHP) garnered total 166 seats Parliament Final results expected announced at 3pm Monday Meanwhile presidential likely headed run-off both failed cross threshold nearly votes counted Political analyst Ali Carkoglu says “the momentum behind him” following Sunday polls promised deliver even better aftermath elections.
As no candidate managed to secure more than half of Sunday's vote, the presidential election is set to go to a run-off on May 28. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won 49.5 percent of the vote, while main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu received 44.89 percent. The winner will be determined by whose alliance controls parliament.
The polls were held against a background of cost-of-living crisis and earthquakes in February that killed over 50,000 people in Turkey. Opposition hopes of unseating Erdogan, known as reis or "chief" by supporters of governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party), have been high heading into this historic election.
Despite sometimes visceral rhetoric employed on campaign trail incidents violence rare