Turkey Elections: Prez Erdogan, Opposition prepare for runoff poll phase

A runoff election between Turkey's President and his rival seems possible as neither appeared likely to reach the 50% threshold required to win the presidential race

A day after Turkey held one of its most crucial elections in history, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement saying he was ready for a rerun election if necessary.

"We don't know yet whether the election will be over in the first round, but if people take us to a second round, we will respect that too," Erdogan said, adding that his ruling conservative alliance had gained a "majority" in parliament.

While Erdogan took a conservative stance, his opponent, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, rattled the cage once more, saying the president had not received the outcome he expected.

"Despite his smear campaigns and insults, Erdogan did not achieve the desired result. Nobody should get enthusiastic about a fait accompli," Kilicdaroglu said.

 

"Election data are still coming in. If our country decides on a runoff, we will gladly participate. We will undoubtedly win this election in the second round. Everyone will see it," he added.

Sinan Ogan, the third presidential candidate who has allied with Erdogan, took to Twitter on Sunday night to cast doubt over overseas votes and warn the election council to prevent "manipulation."

"We have heard that some manipulations were carried out in the overseas vote counting processes. Vote counting is not done in a healthy environment. I warn the YSK. Take the necessary measures immediately and ensure that the vote counting processes are carried out quickly," Ogan tweeted.

Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, who is running for the vice-president post as a candidate for the main Opposition Nation Alliance bloc, said Anadolu's results were untrustworthy.

He said that according to the Opposition's figures, Kilicdaroglu was ahead of Erdogan.

Early results from pro-government areas appeared to give Erdogan the advantage, but as more ballots were counted, his lead appeared to be decreasing.

May 28 runoff election imminent

According to the latest updates, Ankara is expected to hold a runoff election on May 28. Neither Erdogan nor Kilicdaroglu had reached the 50 per cent threshold needed to avoid a second round.

With nearly 97 per cent of ballot boxes counted, Erdogan led with 49.39 per cent of the vote, while Kilicdaroglu had 44.92 per cent, according to a Reuters report citing state-owned news agency Anadolu.

Meanwhile, Erdogan received 49.49 percent of the vote from Turkey's High Election Board, with 91.93 percent of ballot boxes counted.

This year's election was heavily focused on the economy, civil rights, and the devastating February earthquake that killed over 50,000 people. As a result, Erdogan's failure to win outright is being interpreted as a verdict against his authoritarian tendencies. Under his rule, Turkey has emerged as one of the most rigid and financially precarious nations in the region.

Erdogan has been at the centre of power in Turkey as either prime minister or president since 2003. In the run-up to the election, opinion surveys had indicated the increasingly authoritarian leader narrowly trailed his challenger.

(With agency input)