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Erdogan proves unbeatable as Turkey heads for runoff

The latest count from Turkey's Supreme Electoral Board shows Erdogan with 49.40% of ballots cast versus 44.96% for Kilicdaroglu, indicating the country is set for a runoff on May 28.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (R), accompanied by his wife Ermine Erdogan (L), waves to supporters at the AK Party headquarters in Ankara, Turkey May 15, 2023.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (R), accompanied by his wife Ermine Erdogan (L), waves to supporters at his party's headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, May 15, 2023. — ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

As Turkey heads for a runoff election in two weeks, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proved once again that he and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) remain unbeatable, leaving the opposition in a state of shock and disarray and likely granting the country’s strongman his dream of reigning over the republic in its 100th year.

Even the most respected pundits got it wrong, predicting in the final days before yesterday’s parliamentary and presidential elections that the main opposition’s presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu would win, perhaps even in a first round. The opposition is now left taking credit for denying Erdogan a win in the first round after he failed to secure more than the 50% vote needed to win by a whisker. The Supreme Electoral Board’s latest count shows him with 49.40% of ballots cast versus 44.96% for Kilicdaroglu. Sinan Ogan, a right-wing nationalist contender, trailed in a distant third with 5.2%.

Barring some last-minute twist, Erdogan is widely expected to embark on an unprecedented third decade in power after winning the second round. The 69-year-old leader exuded confidence last night as he addressed crowds gathered outside his AKP headquarters in Ankara. “It is our people and country who won. We are not like those who sought to dupe the people, probably for the last time, by claiming they were miles ahead of us,” Erdogan declared.

The AKP and its far-right Nationalist Movement Party partners also prevailed in the 600-member parliament, bagging 322 seats. Kilicdaroglu’s pro-secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) and five other opposition parties united under the Nation’s Alliance came in second with 213 seats and a leftist bloc led by the pro-Kurdish Green Left Party (YSP) pulled in third with 65.

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