Preliminary results of the presidential runoff vote in Turkey suggest that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is leading and aiming to extend his rule into a third decade.
According to unofficial preliminary results from the state-run Anadolu agency, with 98.9% of the ballots counted, Erdogan received 52.07% of the votes, while opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu received 47.93%. The voter turnout was reported to be 85.6%.
Although the official confirmation of the election results is pending, Erdogan celebrated what appeared to be a victory outside his residence in Istanbul. He sang in celebration on top of a campaign bus and addressed a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters, expressing gratitude to the nation.
Erdogan stated that completing the second round of the presidential election was possible with the support of the people, and he thanked them for their participation, considering all 85 million citizens of Turkey winners in both elections held on May 14 and May 28.
Even before the official vote count was completed, several foreign leaders, including those from Qatar, Libya, Algeria, Hungary, and the Palestinian Authority, congratulated Erdogan on his apparent victory.
