Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the majority of votes in Sunday’s high-stakes election, according to election officials — surviving the most serious challenge yet to his political dominance and tightening his grip on the nation he has ruled for 15 years.
Erdogan had earlier claimed he had won after state run news outlets said he was victorious. An announcement from the broadcaster TRT came soon after the Anadolu Agency, who reported that he had won 52.51 per cent of the vote with 98.4 per cent of the total counted.
Erdogan defeated his nearest rival Muharrem Ince with an “absolute majority” of more than half the vote without needing a second round, said the chief of Turkey’s election authority, Sadi Guven.
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.
Turkish president’s followers took to the streets lighting flares and hooting car horns. Supporters of the opposition parties were also gathering while their leaders insisted that the full count was yet to take place and Mr Erdogan may not reach the 50 per cent figure necessary to win outright, and avoid a second round run-off.
Victory gives Mr Erdogan a second five-year term and more power than any of his predecessors after a narrow referendum win last year.
