Erdogan Re-elected as Turkey’s President, Stresses Unity and Solidarity

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been declared the winner of the Turkish presidential election’s second round. Erdogan will be Turkey’s President until 2028.

Ahmet Yener, the Chairman of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council, confirmed this. “It has been determined that Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected president based on preliminary results.”

On May 14, the second round of the presidential election was held following the first round. The first round failed in generating a winner because no nominee for president obtained more than 50% of the vote.

In a close election two weeks ago, Erdogan defeated opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu by just five points. Erdogan received 49.5% of the vote in the first round of voting, while Kilicdaroglu received 44.9%. Sinan Ogan, a nationalist candidate, was eliminated from the second round after completing third with 5.2% of the vote.

The results of the first round of the presidential election defied pollsters’ predictions that Kilicdaroglu would win. Legal voters will decide whether Erdogan or Kilicdaroglu will lead Turkey for the next five years in this second round.

This election will also determine how the country is managed, where the economy is heading amid the rising costs of living crisis, and the country’s foreign policy direction.

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Call for Solidarity and Unity

Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed unity and solidarity in his election victory speech.

“We must unite in solidarity and unity,” Erdogan said to supporters outside Turkey’s presidential palace in Ankara on Monday (29/5/2023).

“We call for this wholeheartedly,” he said.

Erdogan made the statement after defeating opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Turkey’s divisive presidential election. Throughout the campaign, the two accused each other of supporting terrorists and disseminating false information.

Kilicdaroglu’s brief concession statement revealed that ‘great sorrow and difficulties await the country’. Meanwhile, Erdogan told his supporters that it was the most important election in modern Turkish history.

“We have no hatred, anger, or frustration with anyone,” Erdogan declared.

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Sinan Ogan is Key to Erdogan’s Victory

Behind Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s victory, one factor is thought to have contributed to Erdogan’s return to Turkey’s highest power. Sinan Ogan is the man in question.

Ogan, who did not advance to the second round of the election, is the king maker in the second round. This is because he is likely to shift his supporters to either Erdogan or Kilicdaroglu in order for one of them to win.

Ogan backed Erdogan’s decision to make nationalists a ‘key player’ in Turkish politics. Furthermore, Erdogan, according to him, has consistent anti-terrorism principles.

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Seda Demiralp, an Isik University professor, stated that Ogan’s support for Erdogan was predictable from the start. Ogan is known to have advocated for continuity and stability, both of which were key themes in Erdogan’s campaign. In his speech, he stated that an executive and legislature dominated by the same party was beneficial to stability and economic unstability. On the basis of this argument, he justified his decision.