Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared his victory in a historic second round of elections for what will reach 25 years in power.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared victory in a historic runoff election that posed the toughest challenge of his two-decade rule. “We will rule the country for the next five years,” Erdogan told his enthusiastic supporters from atop a bus in his home district of Istanbul.
“God willing, we will be worthy of your trust,” he added. According to provisional data from the count of more than 95% of the ballots, Erdogan, in power for 20 years, obtained 52.3% of the vote, compared to 47.7% for his rival, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu.
Erdogan’s lead in the first round was achieved despite the significant inflation hitting the country – it exceeded 85% in autumn – and the devastating earthquake that hit the nation three months ago.
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Two visions of the country clashed in these elections
On the one hand, Kiliçdaroglu, 74, promises to restore democracy, the independence of the judiciary and the press after two decades of Erdogan’s rule.
The Social Democratic candidate leads a coalition of parties that ranges from the nationalist right to the liberal center-left and was backed by the pro-Kurdish HDP party. But the trained economist failed to take advantage of the severe economic crisis that is taking its toll on Turkic households and young people.
On the other, President Erdogan, who promised stability and whose hold on power rivals that of the Ottoman sultans.
After the first round, Kiliçdaroglu appeared more offensive and less smiling than at the start of his campaign. Lacking access to the mainstream media, he struggled on Twitter as supporters of his tried to mobilize voters by going door to door. At stake were 8.3 million voters who did not vote on May 14, despite a participation figure of 87%.
Erdogan multiplied the meetings and relied on the transformations that he brought to the country since he came to power as prime minister in 2003, and then as president since 2014.
The president raised the minimum wage three times in one year and has multiplied his campaign promises, such as free scholarships promised at the last minute to mourning students after the earthquake.
Source: Ambito
