President Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintained confidence in his victory on Monday despite preliminary results indicating to indicate Turkey will hold a runoff election, while leading opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu declared he would “absolutely win the second round.”
Although Erdogan, who has been in charge for 20 years and is the nation’s longest-serving leader, did better than was anticipated, he was unable to reach the required 50% of the vote on Sunday.
Ahmet Yener, the head of the Supreme Electoral Board, told reporters that after more than 99.4% of the ballot boxes had been counted, Erdogan had received 49.4% of the vote and Kilicdaroglu had received 45%.
Some votes cast from abroad had not yet been tallied. If required, a runoff election would be held on May 28.
According to The Associated Press, of the more than 64 million individuals who were eligible to vote on Sunday, about 89% of them cast ballots.
The election is said to be the most significant in the nation’s history by both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu.
The economy was viewed by many voters as the most important topic due to high inflation and a cost-of-living crisis.
Erdogan has transformed the executive branch of the government into a strong presidency that enables him to rule by decree.
Erdogan refutes the accusation that such centralized control was to blame for the slow response to the terrible earthquakes in February that lost more than 50,000 lives.
Kilicdaroglu, though, has vowed to reinstate parliamentary democracy in Turkey.
Erdogan maintains that his executive authority is essential given the unrest around his country.
Erdogan charged that U.S. President Joe Biden was attempting to remove him from office through the elections in his final campaign speech on Friday.
Washington has stated that it does not support any political party.
Due to Ankara’s growing links to Moscow and worries about democracy, relations between Turkey and its old Western allies have deteriorated recently.
With Turkey’s Western partners, Kilicdaroglu promises a fresh start.
Reuters, Agence France-Presse, and The Associated Press all contributed information to this article.
