Erdogan Wins Presidential Elections in Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the presidential polls on Sunday, extending his 15-year grip on power. 

The election body of the country stated on Sunday night that the incumbent had won with 97.7% of votes counted. 

Erdogan declared himself the winner before the official results were announced.

“Our people have given us the job of carrying out the presidential and executive posts…I hope nobody will damage this democracy by casting a shadow on this election and its results to hide their failure,” Erdogan addressed his supporters.

Erdogan had also said in the simultaneous parliamentary contest that his ruling Justice and Development Party, the AKP, and its allied Nationalist Movement Party, the MHP, had together retained their control of parliament.

State media said that the AKP had won 42% and its MHP ally had 11%, while Ince's main opposition the Republican People's Party (CHP) had 23% of the vote. The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) had 11%, which put it above the 10% needed to enter parliament. The opposition nationalist Iyi (Good) party had 10%, according to state media.

As declared, the voters’ turnout was 87% for both the presidential and parliamentary elections.

Around 59 million people were eligible to vote in both presidential and parliamentary elections Sunday. Erdogan said the participation rate was 90%, an extraordinarily high number for any election.

Under constitutional amendments approved after a controversial 2017 referendum, Turkey is making a transition from a parliamentary system to a presidential one. The changes took effect after the elections.

Erdogan has been the President of Turkey since 2014. Before that, he was Prime Minister. 

By Thea Morrison

Photo source: AP