Kilicdaroglu says certain will win runoff election

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The head of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and Turkish presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu said Sunday that he is certain he will be winning the runoff election against incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We will certainly win the runoff election, and everyone knows that," the Turkish opposition figure said. "Erdogan could not obtain what he wanted despite all his slander and insults."

"There was a huge voter turnout, and no one can make claims to victory," the leading Turkish opposition figure said.

"The results revealed that Erdogan could not garner the trust of the people, and the votes for the Justice and Development Party have declined," he added.

"The data regarding the results are still being followed closely, and we will agree to a second round," Kilicdaroglu said.

Kilicdaroglu's words came as the competent authorities in Turkey counted 97.45% of the votes of the Turkish presidential elections, where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won 49.35%, while Kilicdaroglu won 44.97%, and Sinan Ogan managed to obtain 5.25%.

Meanwhile, Turkish presidential candidate Sinan Ogan said Turkey was going through an extremely difficult election, "and we are at a critical turning point in terms of voting."

He also said he would not allow Turkey to slip into a state of instability.

Ogan underlined that he was set to meet with the leaders of the Ancestral Alliance (ATA) to discuss what is to be done in the second round of the election.

He said, Turkey "has completed another feast of democracy with the 14th of May elections," pointing out that "although the exact results are not clear yet, we are ahead."

Earlier, in a speech addressed to his supporters at the headquarters of the Justice and Development Party in the Turkish capital, Ankara, Erdogan said the Turkish people "are the winners regardless of the election result."

"We know that we are leading by a wide margin, but we don't know officially what the exact result is because we haven't received it yet," the incumbent President said, adding, "We are waiting for the embodiment of the national will."

"We are already ahead of our closest competitor by 2.6 million votes. I believe that this difference will increase even more with the final results," he told his supporters.

"Throughout our political life, without exception, we have always respected the decision of the national will. We respect it in this election as well, and we will respect it in the next elections," he said.

He underlined that his party was not part of any alliance with "terrorism and terrorists" and takes no instructions from anyone but the people of Turkey.

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Erdogan said the majority of the people supported the AKP's alliance in these elections, adding that he respected the Turkish people's decision if they decide to go into a runoff election.

Elsewhere, the incumbent Turkish President said his party will not leave Turkey's renaissance, stability, and democracy in the middle of the road.

This comes after it was announced that the presidential race was heading into a runoff after both parties failed to get over the 50% threshold.

The results of the counted ballots so far show Erdogan at the forefront of the presidential race, mainly against Kilicdaroglu, but with a percentage of votes insufficient to declare him as President from the first round.

According to the TRT network, the preliminary turnout in Turkey's presidential and legislative elections on Sunday exceeded 88% at home and 45% overseas.