Turkish presidential election heads to runoff with Erdogan leading in first round

Ankara, Turkey | Xinhua |  Türkiye is poised for a runoff presidential election on May 28 as no candidate managed to surpass the 50-percent threshold in Sunday’s initial round of voting.

Unofficial results delivered by the semi-official Anadolu Agency on Monday reveal that incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan led the race with 49.42 percent of the votes, while his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu trailed with 44.95 percent, with 99.38 percent of the ballots counted.

Sinan Ogan, the third candidate, garnered 5.2 percent of the votes, according to Anadolu.

Speaking to his supporters early Monday, Erdogan expressed confidence in his “clear lead,” even though the official results of the presidential and parliamentary elections were yet to be announced.

“We know that we are clearly ahead in the election, but we are waiting for the manifestation of the national will, as the full extent of the result is not yet officially before us,” the 69-year-old president said.

Erdogan noted that his alliance had secured a clear majority in parliament, leading him to believe that the second round of voting would also favor his candidacy.

However, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the candidate of the opposition bloc, said “Erdogan didn’t get the vote of confidence from the people.”

He accused Erdogan’s ruling party of deliberately delaying the counting of ballots and reporting of results.

Unofficial results of the parliamentary election from Anadolu Agency showed that the People’s Alliance, formed by Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the New Welfare Party and the Great Union Party, had 322 lawmakers elected, highest among three alliances that run for the 600-seat parliament. ■