Turkey’s presidential election headed to a runoff vote as preliminary results showed neither President Recep Tayyip Erdogan nor his main rival appeared likely to reach the 50% threshold to win the presidential race outright.
The second round of voting will be held on May 28.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing the biggest challenge yet in his two decades in power after millions voted in a landmark election on May 14.
With more than 100% of the votes counted, Erdogan is in lead with 49.50% of the votes, while his rival and the main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, secured 44.88% votes, according to Turkey’s Supreme Election Council.
The third candidate in the race, ultranationalist Sinan Oğan, emerged as a potential kingmaker with just over 5% of the vote.
- Erdogan — 49.51% votes
- Kemal Kilicdaroglu — 44.88% votes
- Sinan Ogan — 5.17% votes
Analysts say it could be difficult for Kilicdaroglu to claw back Erdogan’s five-point lead in the weeks before the second round.
Erdogan and his Justice and Development party (AKP) are confident of winning. “We strongly believe that we will continue to serve our nation for the next 5 years,” he told his supporters late Sunday night.
Meanwhile, Kilicdaroglu, who is representing a united front of six different opposition parties all seeking to unseat Erdogan, vowed to win the second round of voting. “Despite all of his lies and attacks, Erdoğan did not receive the desired outcome,” he said.
Erdogan alliance wins parliamentary majority
Erdogan’s AK party and its allies secured 322 seats in Turkey’s 600-seat parliament while the opposition won 213 and the 65 remaining went to a pro-Kurdish and leftist alliance. Erdogan’s party won 266 seats while the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) got 166 seats in parliament.
High voter turnout
More than 64 million Turks, including 3.4 million overseas voters, were eligible to vote in the elections. The voter turnout this year was 88.92% and around 52.69% among voters abroad, according to election council chairman Ahmet Yener.
- Voter Turnout: 86.99%
- Participation: 55.8 million