In the first direct presidential election on Sunday, Turkish voters — albeit very narrowly — elected Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as the new president.
Erdoğan led the election with 51.6 percent of votes across Turkey, according to unofficial results. The figure is slightly higher than the absolute majority he needed to win the election. His main rival, Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, trailed with 38.6 percent. Selahattin Demirtaş won 9.8 percent of the votes.
This victory is far below the expectations of Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Earlier opinion polls put the prime minister at over 55 percent. In televised remarks last week, Erdoğan said opinion polls were showing him at as high as 57 percent.
Addressing a crowd of his supporters in the Haliç Congress Center in İstanbul on Sunday evening, Erdoğan thanked the voters for the support given to him in his presidential bid. He said the Turkish nation displayed its “will” at the ballot box and vowed to carry on his fight for advanced democracy in Turkey. “I will continue to serve my nation and country as long as I live. I will continue efforts for the settlement process,” he vowed.
Erdoğan vows to fulfill his dream of what he calls a “new Turkey” while his critics say he will grow more authoritarian. He has been battling a high-level corruption investigation involving his close allies and even members of his family since Dec. 17, 2013, when dozens of people, including businessmen close to the government and sons of now-former ministers, were detained on charges of rigging state tenders and other irregularities. His AK Party believes Sunday’s victory will help prove that the corruption probe is nothing but a “plot” against his government.
The new president will sit in the Çankaya presidential palace for the next five years and will be allowed to run for a second term as president. Erdoğan has set his sights on serving two presidential terms, keeping him in power past 2023, the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey.
Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. with 53 million citizens eligible to vote. The voter turnout was 73 percent — lower than the 89 percent in the March 30 local elections. Some failed to vote simply because they were on vacation — away from their places of residence. Voting ended at 5 p.m.
Erdoğan competed against two rivals — İhsanoğlu, an academic and former head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) who was nominated as a candidate by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and Selahattin Demirtaş, a Kurdish lawmaker who was nominated by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). During his presidential campaign, İhsanoğlu focused on a message of unity. Demirtaş, on the other hand, is described as a “rising star” on the minority Kurdish political scene.
Incumbent President Abdullah Gül, who was elected in 2007, will leave his post on Aug. 28.
Candidates needed an absolute majority to win.
Erdoğan, following the announcement of Sunday’s election results, went to the Eyüp Mosque in İstanbul to pray as a way to thank God for the victory. Later, he was expected to address his voters with a post-election speech, dubbed the “balcony speech,” at the AK Party headquarters in Ankara.
Tension was high throughout election day, with voters of opposition parties on alert for possible irregularities and fraud. In addition, several websites and media outlets were targeted in crippling cyber attacks.
The private Cihan news agency, known for its rapid and accurate reporting of election results, reported that it was under a major cyber attack preventing it from conveying results effectively. Cihan was subject to a major cyber attack earlier this year on March 30, when local elections took place. In addition, Internet connectivity was affected at Today’s Zaman and its Turkish-language sister newspaper, Zaman, for hours, severely complicating reporting.
Widespread reports of fraud during the March 30 elections have cast doubts over the reliability of the presidential election. Erdoğan has been criticized by the opposition parties as well as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which is observing the election, for misuse of public resources and unbalanced media coverage.
Opposition parties have frequently criticized Erdoğan for enjoying more airtime on the public broadcaster Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) than the two other candidates, İhsanoğlu and Demirtaş.
For the first time, ballots showed the candidates not solely with their names but along with their photos…. see more
source: todayszaman
Tags: Erdo?an, Politics, Wins Presidential election
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