Turkey faces runoff election with Erdogan leading


Istanbul, May 15 (BNA): Turkey headed for a run-off election after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan led over his opposition to Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Sunday’s elections, but failed to achieve an absolute majority to extend his 20-year rule of the NATO member country.

Reuters reports that Erdoğan and Kilicdaroglu have not crossed the 50% threshold required to avoid the second round scheduled for May 28.

The presidential vote will not only decide who leads Turkey, but also whether it returns to a more secular and democratic path, how it deals with the acute cost of living crisis, and manages key relations with Russia, the Middle East, and the West.

Erdogan did better than pre-election polls had predicted, and he appeared confident as he addressed his supporters.

“We are already ahead of our closest competitor by 2.6 million votes. We expect this number to rise with the official results,” Erdogan said.

According to the state-owned Anadolu news agency, with nearly 97% of the ballot boxes counted, Erdogan led with 49.39% of the vote and Kilicdaroglu got 44.92%. Turkey’s Supreme Election Board gave Erdogan 49.49% with 91.93% of the ballot boxes counted.

Thousands of Erdogan voters swarmed the party headquarters in Ankara, blasting party songs from loudspeakers and waving flags.

MI






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