According to unofficial figures, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party won another victory in Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday.
Erdoğan told his supporters shortly after midnight at the AK Party headquarters in Ankara that they were waiting for the “outcome of national will,” but that they had a “clear lead, though unofficial results have been announced.”
According to the first unofficial findings, Erdoan had received 49% of the vote as he spoke. “Türkiye has proven once again that it is among the world’s leading democracies with its commitment to superiority of national will, freedom of its citizens in their political choices,” he added.
“We believe that we will win this election with more than 50% of the votes,” Erdoğan added.
Erdoğan and his primary rival, Kemal Klçdarolu, did not receive more than 50% of the vote, forcing a runoff election on May 28.
After an uncomplicated vote that finished at 5 p.m. local time, Türkiye experienced a stressful night as ballot boxes were unsealed. The opposition bloc of six parties frequently argued that their candidate Klçdarolu was ahead of incumbent President Erdoğan in the vote count.
They challenged the official results and complained about those announced by the national news outlet Anadolu outlet (AA).
