Incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip of the ruling Justice and Development Party has secured victory in Turkiye’s presidential runoff, defeating his Republican People’s Party rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
Erdogan, polling as the single candidate for the People’s Alliance, won 52.08 percent of the vote, compared to 47.92 percent of votes cast for Kilicdaroglu, who ran for the opposition Nation Alliance, according to preliminary results from Turkiye's electoral commission with 99 percent of the vote counted.
Speaking to supporters outside his residence in Istanbul, Erdogan thanked them for their votes, and called the election a "celebration of democracy."
"I would like to congratulate all members of our organization, observers at ballot boxes, and our campaign team," Erdogan said.
The incumbent thanked the nation's people for entrusting him and his government with five more years in office, and said phone calls from world leaders congratulating him have been pouring in.
"Now world leaders are calling. My brother Ilham [Aliyev], president of Azerbaijan, just called. My brother, the president of Uzbekistan has called. The prime minister of Libya has called. They are all calling one after another. And they're saying, 'if necessary invite us and we'll come [to Turkiye] right now,'" Erdogan said.
Erdogan is expected to take off for Ankara tonight, and to give a speech at the Justice and Development Party's headquarters in the capital on Monday.
'Important Choice'
Erdogan earlier hailed Sunday’s vote as “the most important choice” Turks would have to make in their lives, citing the election’s role in determining the future course of the country. Kilicdaroglu similarly characterized the election as a choice “between two candidates and two worldviews.”
In addition to policy differences on the economy, counterterrorism, refugees and illegal immigration, Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu have been seen to hold divergent views on Turkiye’s role in regional and global affairs, with the incumbent pushing for greater independence and integration with non-Western-dominated institutions, while Kilicdaroglu has been seen as more of a traditionalist on issues ranging from NATO and the European Union to Russia.
In the run-up to the election last week, Erdogan emphasized that if he were reelected, he would not fulfill every demand made by the West, particularly as concerns the imposition of sanctions against Russia – which is now Turkiye’s largest trading partner.
Erdogan’s victory can likely be attributed in large part to last week’s decision by first round third place finisher Sinan Ogan to support the incumbent president. Ogan and his nationalist ATA Alliance received over 5 percent in the May 14 vote.
The 69-year-old incumbent president’s victory extends his mandate to the year 2028. He has been a staple of Turkish politics for nearly three decades, serving as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 and 1998, as prime minister between 2003 and 2014, and as president from 2014 onward, winning reelection in 2018.
Election Will 'Further Strengthen Erdogan's Legitimacy'
Sunday's runoff "will further strengthen Mr. Erdogan's legitimacy as Turkiye's president," and, thanks to his party's parliamentary majoriity, will imbue him with "near absolute power to change the constition," political analyst Dr. Ali Demirdas told Sputnik.
"The opposition that has been united like never before has failed monumentally. I am not sure how the opposition could recover from this defeat," Dr. Demirdas said. The observer pointed out that despite the Western media's overwhelming support for Kilicdaroglu and suggestions that he could defeat Erdogan, the opposition candidate's fate was sealed after "he struck a de-facto alliance with the Green Left Party, which proclaims being the political wing of the PKK," a Turkish Kurdish militant group which Ankara deems to be terrorists.
"Kilicdaroglu also promised the return of those who fled Turkiye for being part of the 15 July coup attempt. They are known as the Gulenist or FETO (Fethullah Terror Organization). Kilicdaroglu's courting with these people spooked the majority of Turks who somewhat disregarded the relative economic hardships the country has been in," Demirdas said.
The observer also called Sunday's results a serious blow for Washington and President Biden.
"Biden overtly stated his intention to oust Mr. Erdogan by providing support for the Turkish opposition. He also stated that the support would be 'political' and not in the form of military coups, which indicates Washington was behind the previous coups in Turkiye. Even before the elections, Washington had a hard time convincing Erdogan to drop policies that they deem against America's interests...As Mr. Erdogan has come out stronger out of this election, Washington may resort to engaging in an all-out war against Turkiye that would ruin Turkiy's economy, which I believe is unlikely [however] because it would create a ripple effect that would hurt the already ailing European economy. So, I am expecting that Washington will be more lenient toward Mr. Erdogan's demands," Demirdas said.