Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to win the first round by four points, ensuring a runoff.
From his party’s headquarters patio, he predicted five more years in power after twenty.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a candidate for the opposition, also declared to have the election in his grasp.
Everything appeared to be in position for a successful first round.
Incomplete results give him approximately 45% of the vote, while Mr. Erdogan has more than 49%. Candidates must receive more than 50% of the vote to advance past the first round.
And Mr. Erdogan’s efforts to extend his presidency are bolstered by this development. The state news agency’s preliminary results show that the People’s Alliance alliance has secured a majority in parliament.
Turkey’s opposition has collaborated for months to remove a president who solidified power after the 2016 coup attempt.
In addition, a substantial number of Turks participated in the election. The official turnout estimate is 88.8%.
The election is being closely monitored in the West due to Mr. Kilicdaroglu’s pledge to revitalize Turkish democracy and relations with its NATO allies. On the other hand, President Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted government has accused the West of conspiring to overthrow him, and Turkey’s EU candidature has been on hold for years.
On Monday morning in Ankara, Mr. Kilicdaroglu and his friends tried to sound upbeat.
“If our nation says second round, we will win in the second round,” he declared.
Later, party spokesman Faik Oztrak said they will do everything possible in the two weeks before the runoff.
Outside the party headquarters, supporters chanted one of his slogans, “Everything will be okay.” But it was unclear to them that it would be.
Earlier, the opposition leader had vehemently accused the government of attempting to “block the will of the people” by repeatedly challenging opposition strongholds. Two party rising stars, Istanbul and Ankara mayors, reminded voters that Mr. Erdogan’s AK Party had utilised this strategy.
They lauded the large group of opposition volunteers who guarded the ballots to ensure that nothing improper occurred.
Mr. Kilicdaroglu, age 74, has lost multiple elections as the leader of his Republican People’s Party, but this time his message of removing the president’s excessive powers resonated.
Mr. Erdogan’s unusual economic measures have worsened Turkey’s 44% cost of living crisis. The Turkish Bist-100 stock market and lira plummeted 2.7% on Monday morning, as expected.
After the February twin earthquakes killed over 50,000 in 11 districts, the Erdogan government was lambasted for its tardy response.
Nevertheless, despite a very challenging few months, the president of Turkey appears to have the upper hand.
According to overnight results, the president’s support in eight party strongholds affected by the earthquake fell by only two to three percentage points.
In seven of the eight cities, he maintained support above 60%. Specifically in Gaziantep, it dropped to 59%.
Speaking to supporters from the balcony he had used for previous victories, he declared, “Although the final results are not yet in, we are well ahead.”
Regardless of the margin between the two candidates before the anticipated run-off in two weeks, the president appears to have defied several pollsters who predicted that his opponent had the upper hand and could win uncontested without a run-off.
According to unconfirmed results cited by state news agency Anadolu. He is also headed for a majority in parliament, along with his nationalist MHP partner. It is stated that the AKP and its nationalist ally MHP hold 316 of the 600 parliamentary seats.
His supporters mocked the opposition allies first for predicting that Mr. Kilicdaroglu would become the thirteenth president of Turkey, and then for progressively diminishing their expectations as the night progressed.
This shows how split Turkish society is 100 years after Kemal Ataturk formed the modern Turkish Republic.
In the hours before voting, Mr. Kilicdaroglu visited Ataturk’s tomb in Ankara to complete his campaign.
President Erdogan instead chose to make a symbolic statement to his conservative and nationalist base of support by delivering a campaign speech at Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia.
The former Orthodox Christian cathedral had been converted into a mosque by the Ottomans. Mr. Erdogan reversed Ataturk’s museum conversion in 2020.
It is unknown how close the anticipated runoff will be, and there is already considerable speculation regarding the fate of the ultranationalist Sinan Ogan, who received 5% of the vote in the election.
He is aware that both leaders will attempt to woo him and has imposed strict conditions on the Kilicdaroglu faction, including the return of refugees to their home countries and the “fight against terrorism.”
Even if he played kingmaker and endorsed a candidate, his first-round voters would likely ignore him.
