Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won the presidential election, extending his rule for a third decade, CNN reported.
Erdogan defeated opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the runoff election on Sunday. The preliminary official results announced by Turkey’s Supreme Election Council (YSK) on Sunday showed Erdogan winning with 52.14 percent of the votes cast. Kilicdaroglu received 47.86% of the vote.
According to CNN, before the results were made official, Erdogan appeared to take a victory lap outside his residence in Istanbul, singing in celebration on top of a campaign bus. Addressing a large crowd of jubilant supporters waving the Turkish flag, he thanked the nation.
Erdogan said: “We completed the second round of the presidential election with the favour of our nation. I would like to express my gratitude to my nation for giving us a day of democracy.”
“The winners of both the May 14 elections and the May 28 elections are all our 85 million citizens,” he added, referring to the two election rounds.
Speaking at his party headquarters in the capital Ankara, Kilicdaroglu said he would continue to fight until there is “real democracy” in Turkey.
“This was the most unfair election period in our history… We did not bow down to the climate of fear. In this election, the will of the people to change an authoritarian government became clear despite all the pressures,” he said as per CNN.
