Türkiye: Erdogan faces enormous tasks after election victory

After winning the presidential elections in Turkey, incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces major challenges. It is eagerly awaited how the outcome of today’s election will affect the national currency, the lira. The currency has lost massively in value over the past two years, and inflation in the country is around 44 percent.

Yesterday, 69-year-old Erdogan won the runoff against opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu (74). According to the preliminary results of the electoral authority, Erdogan received around 52 percent of the votes, Kilicdaroglu around 48 percent. Voter turnout was 85 percent.

After his election victory in Ankara, Erdogan struck both aggressive and conciliatory tones. He accused western media of propaganda and described the opposition as terrorists. But he also said: “Today nobody lost,” all 85 million inhabitants of Turkey had won. Democracy has triumphed.

Clear majority of voters in Germany

According to the state news agency Anadolu, around 50 percent of those eligible to vote in Germany voted. As in the first round, a clear majority of them spoke out for Erdogan. With around 95 percent of the ballot boxes counted from Germany, the incumbent received 67.4 percent of the votes from this group, as reported by the state news agency Anadolu. Overall, the election campaign was considered unfair, partly because of the government’s media dominance.

Erdogan has led Turkey for 20 years. In 2003 he became Prime Minister and in 2014 President. Since the introduction of a presidential system in 2018, he has more power than ever before. It is feared that he will govern even more authoritarian after the election. Turkey is a NATO member, maintains close ties with Russia and Ukraine, and is an actor in the Syrian civil war. Accordingly, the election was also followed internationally with great attention.

Focus on post-earthquake reconstruction

In October, Turkey celebrates the 100th anniversary of the founding of its republic. Erdogan therefore speaks of a “century of Türkiye”. He has promised further investments in the defense industry and infrastructure. One of his greatest tasks will be the reconstruction of the regions devastated by the earthquake. In February, tens of thousands of people died in severe earthquakes in south-eastern Turkey.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz congratulated Erdogan on the election victory and praised the cooperation. “Germany and Turkey are close partners and allies – we are also closely linked socially and economically,” wrote the SPD politician on Twitter last night. “Now we want to push our common issues with renewed vigour.”

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote that it was of strategic importance for both the EU and Turkey to “promote these relations for the benefit of our peoples”. US President Joe Biden wrote on Twitter that he congratulated Erdogan on his re-election. “I look forward to continuing to work together as a NATO ally on bilateral issues and on shared global challenges.”

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy also congratulated Erdogan. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was one of the first to congratulate the Turkish President before the end of the vote count. Erdogan sees himself as a mediator in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter: “I look forward to continuing our work together and preparing for the NATO summit in July.” Turkey had previously blocked Sweden’s entry into NATO and demanded concessions in the fight against terrorism. Observers assume that the Turkish parliament, in which Erdogan’s alliance has a majority, will ratify the accession before the NATO summit.