Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, has received congratulations from world leaders after he was re-elected in a historic run-off that presented the largest threat to his 20 years in office.
Ahmet Yener, the president of the Supreme Election Council, declared the results official on Sunday, stating that Erdogan received 52.14 percent of the vote to win the presidency of Turkey.
According to Yener, Erdogan’s opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu earned 47.86% of the vote with 99.43% of ballot boxes unsealed. The remaining uncounted votes won’t affect the outcome because there was a margin of more than two million votes between the contenders, he noted.
More than 64 million Turks, both domestically and overseas, were eligible to vote in the elections, which took place against a backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis marked by an 85 percent inflation peak in October and earthquakes in February that claimed more than 50,000 lives.
When Erdogan, 69, first assumed office in 2003 as prime minister, he provided a vision for future growth and pledged to build on the advancements made by his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) administration.
The longest-serving leader of NATO member Turkey was put to the test like never before in what was largely regarded as the most important election in the nation’s 100-year existence as a post-Ottoman republic.
Without formally conceding defeat, Kilicdaroglu said: “My real sadness is about the difficulties awaiting the country.”
