Turkey’s presidential election will go to the second round, Erdogan’s performance better than expected

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Ankara, 15 May (H.S.). Turkey’s election chief Ahmet Ener has said the presidential race will go to a second round on May 28 as incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not won a clear victory.

Ener, the head of the Supreme Electoral Board, said on Monday that when the remaining 35,874 votes from abroad were counted, no candidate had received the majority needed to win the election. He said preliminary results showed Erdoğan won 49.51 percent of the vote, while his main rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu won 44.88 percent and third candidate Sinan Ogan won 5.17 percent. Ener said that even if Erdoğan had got all the remaining votes, his vote would have increased to 49.54 percent.

Turkey’s presidential election appeared to move into a second round on Monday as President Erdoğan edged ahead of his main rival but failed to win a clear victory. The election in the country is being watched all over the world to see whether the strategically located NATO country remains under the tight grip of the president or moves along the more democratic path envisioned by his main rival, Kimil Kılıkdaroğlu.

Erdoğan has ruled the country for 20 years. Polls suggest his term could end amid economic turmoil, inflation, criticism of the government’s response to the February earthquake. More than 50,000 people were killed in the earthquake that hit the country.

Ener told reporters that with 99.4 percent of domestic votes and 84 percent of foreign votes counted, Erdoğan received 49.4 percent of the vote, while Kilikdaroglu received 45 percent. The third candidate, nationalist leader Sinan Ogan, received 5.2 percent of the vote.

In the last presidential election held in 2018, Erdoğan won a clear victory in the first round by securing 52.6 percent of the vote.

Turkish President Erdogan said on Monday morning that he could still win the country’s presidential election but would respect the country’s decision if the election goes to a second round on May 28. The second round of elections could go in his favor as his coalition is likely to retain majority in the parliament.