Tayyip Erdogan Wins Second Term as Turkish President

Tayyip Erdogan Wins Second Term as Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won a new five-year term as President of Turkey after securing outright victory in the first round of a presidential poll.

Election authority chief Sadi Guven said the president “received the absolute majority of all valid votes”, as state media reports put Mr Erdogan on 53% with 99% of votes counted, and his closest rival Muharrem Ince on 31%.

The opposition, which earlier cast doubts on the result from state media, is yet to officially concede but said it would continue its democratic fight “whatever the result”.

Turkey’s long-standing leader is set to assume sweeping powers under a new executive presidency following his victory.

The 64-year-old gave a triumphant victory speech from the balcony of his party’s headquarters in the capital Ankara at 03:00 (00:00 GMT), declaring: “The winner of this election is each and every individual among my 81 million citizens.”

There are reports that Republican People’s Party (CHP) presidential candidate Mr Ince, who anchored his campaign on a return to freedoms and democratic values, has admitted defeat in a message to a journalist, though this has not been confirmed.

Earlier on Sunday he accused state-run news agency Anadolu of “manipulation” over its reporting of vote-share figures.

None of the other four candidates on the presidential ballot won more than 8.4% of the vote, which was one of the most keenly fought in the country’s recent history.