Turkey braces for momentous run-off election on May 28 as Erdogan leads in polls
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s longest-serving leader, has 49.5 per cent of the vote and main rival Kilicdaroglu has 44.9 per cent.
- Erdogan’s right-wing party also retained control of parliament through an alliance with ultra-nationalists
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday emerged from his toughest election test unbowed and in strong position to extend two decades of his Islamic-rooted rule by another five years in a historic May 28 runoff.
The 69-year-old leader defied pollsters and his country’s most dire economic crisis since the 1990s to come within a fraction of a percentage point of winning Sunday’s presidential ballot.
His right-wing party also retained control of parliament through an alliance with ultra-nationalists on a drama-filled night that concluded with Erdogan delivering a victory speech from a balcony to jubilant supporters.
He even won in regions hit by a calamitous February quake that claimed more than 50,000 lives – and where anger at the government’s slow response to Turkey’s worst disaster of modern times was seething.
“I wholeheartedly believe that we will continue to serve our people in the coming five years,” Erdogan said to huge cheers.
He also claimed his Islamic ruling party and its ultranationalist allies had captured a clear majority in parliament.