The playing field was less than level, with state of emergency rule in force, and a generally subservient mass media in the service of the ruling party. The results of Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections held June 24 have, nevertheless, vindicated incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Having garnered 52.5% of the vote, thus avoiding a runoff, Erdogan will now serve as Turkey’s first executive president, with enhanced powers and few encumbrances from parliament, thanks to constitutional changes adopted in April 2017.

Erdogan's victory put him nearly 22% points ahead of Muharrem Ince, the social democratic runner-up, who got 30.7% of the presidential vote, while his party, the main opposition Republican People's Part (CHP), managed to garner only 22.6% of the parliamentary vote. Given the margin, many wonder whether the results favoring Erdogan would have changed substantially had conditions been fairer.

Ince himself conceded defeat to Erdogan without making a fuss over the circumstances under which the elections were held. “If you have lost, you have lost,” Ince said in an address after the results became clear. “To say, I don’t accept this result, so let’s take to the streets is not democracy.”

The large turnout, reported at around 83-85% — the official figure has yet to be announced — also lends credence to those who argue that Erdogan would have won anyway. Not everything, however, went the way Erdogan would have desired.