The Republic of Turkey is heading for a runoff presidential
election as current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s vote share fell
below 50 per cent.
Erdogan and his opposition Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of
the Republican People's Party, did not get the 50 per cent threshold needed to
win the presidential election on Sunday.
The runoff election is scheduled to be held on May 28. The
second round of polls is important for Kilicdaroglu and Erdogan. It will decide
the fate of these two leaders.
According to the state-run Anadolu news agency, 97 per cent
of the ballot boxes were counted by the Supreme Electoral Board of Turkey.
Erdogan secured 49.34% of votes and Kilicdaroglu received 44.99% of the votes.
Sinan Ogan, another presidential candidate from the ATA Alliance, received only
5.28% of the votes.
Sinan said, “We will absolutely win this election in the
second round. Everyone will see that.” He welcomed the second round of the
election. Sinan said that his candidacy affected the election outcome.
Kilicdaroglu also expressed hope to win the election.
Kilicdaroglu said, “We will absolutely win the second round ... and bring
democracy.”
Ahead of the Turkish presidential election, several opinion
polls had predicted a tight contest between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu. As the
counting of the votes was going on, Erdogan said, “We are already ahead of our
closest rival by 2.6 million votes. We expect this figure to increase with
official results.”
Erdogan also welcomed the second round of the election. He
said, “If our nation has chosen for a second round, that is also welcome.”
Kilicdaroglu has pledged to bring democracy to the country
if he wins the election. He also said that he would build frail ties with the
Western countries.
The election took place following devastating earthquakes in
southeast Turkey in February, which killed many people.
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