Türkiye is headed for a second round of the presidential elections, after the results of election day this Sunday, in which none of the candidates managed to exceed 50% of the votes.
With more than 99% of the scrutiny carried out, the current president, the Islamist Recep Tayyip Erdogan, led the count with around 49.4% of the votes, a higher number than expected in the polls, but insufficient to prevail in the first election. lap.
In this way, Erdogan would play for re-election on May 28 in an unprecedented second round against the opponent Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, who achieved around 45%.
After confirming this trend, Erdogan appeared before his supporters at dawn to celebrate his “clear advantage” over his main rival and even discussed the possibility of winning the election in the first round, something that was finally ruled out by the Turkish Electoral Commission. .
#LAST MINUTE | The Turkish Election Commission confirms that Erdogan wins without an absolute majority. pic.twitter.com/ztArhOnr80
– EFE News (@EFEnoticias) May 15, 2023
Sinan Ogan, from the ultranationalist Alianza Ata, was in a distant third place, with about 5.2%, so he would be out of the game, review international media, according to which their decision to support one candidate or another could decide the result.
Erdogan, who has been in power for 20 years, has won 51 of the country’s 81 provinces, essentially Anatolia and inland areas. However, he has lost in Ankara, the capital, and in the southeast on the border with Syria, Iraq and Iran, where the Kurdish population is concentrated, reports the agency EFE.
In addition, the vote distribution maps show that almost the entire coastal strip of the country, from Istanbul to the Mediterranean, has supported Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, adds the Spanish media.
In the parliamentary elections, also held this Sunday, Erdogan has turned around the polls that predicted that his party, the AKP, would lose the absolute majority.
His party has lost 29 deputies compared to 2018, but the ultranationalist MHP has resisted well and rises one seat, which together with the 5 obtained by an Islamist formation allied to Erdogan, gives it a majority of 321 seats in a parliament of 600, precise EFE.
The elections in Turkey are of great importance due to the growing weight of this country on the international stage under Erdogan’s mandate, its position on the war between Russia and Ukraine, in which it has not joined the sanctions against Moscow, and its strained relations with the West.
