Erdogan confident in winning second round with higher turnout

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 May 22:22

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters through Twitter, saying that the biggest winner in the elections was Turkish democracy as he states his confidence in winning the second round on 28 May.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and his wife Emine gesture to supporters at the party headquarters, in Ankara, Turkey, early Monday, May 15, 2023 (AP Photo/Ali Unal)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he feels confident in emerging victorious in the next round of presidential elections after falling less than half of a percent short as counting was finalized on Monday.

Erdogan said on Twitter, "The 14 May elections, one of the elections with the highest participation in our history, took place in a festive atmosphere befitting our democracy."

Although the President was unable to secure the win in the first round, marking the country's first-ever run-off which Turkey's Supreme Elections Council scheduled for May 28, Erdogan believed that the election marked a victory for "Turkish democracy and the Turkish Nation."

Tarihimizin en yüksek katılımlı seçimlerinden biri olan 14 Mayıs seçimleri, aziz milletimizin basiret ve ferasetiyle demokrasimize yakışır bir şölen havası içinde gerçekleşmiştir.…
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) May 15, 2023

The leader of the Justice and Development Party pointed to the 27 million votes he received saying that the Turkish people showed "great favor" towards his political party, adding that they "gave the majority in the Turkish Grand National Assembly to the People's Alliance, confirming that they trust us and our Alliance."

Erdogan believed that he "will emerge victorious from the 28 May election by increasing" the number of votes he received in the first round.

The Turkish Presidential election is heading to a second round as neither #Erdogan nor #Kilicdaroglu crossed the electoral threshold of 50%+1. The decisive round will be held on May 28th. Who do you think will win the #Turkish presidency?#TurkeyElections #Turkey pic.twitter.com/f2NkmmHhDa
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 15, 2023

The head of the election commission, Ahmet Yener, stated that Erdogan secured 49.51% of the votes while opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu obtained 44.88% of the votes marking the first stage of an extremely close battle for the highest governmental position in Turkey.