Sofian Khan: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was able to achieve victory tightly-contested presidential polls, the election authority said yesterday, extending his 15-year grip on power as the opposition complained bitterly about the conduct of the vote count.
Erdogan defeated his nearest rival Muharrem Ince with an “absolute majority” of more than half the vote without needing a second round, said the chief of Turkey’s election authority, Sadi Guven. “I have been entrusted by the nation with the task and duties of the presidency,” Erdogan said in a victory address at his Istanbul residence, vowing that the new presidential system would be implemented “rapidly”. “Turkey has given a lesson in democracy to the entire world,” he added, pointing to an 88 per cent turnout. Erdogan won 52.5% in the presidential poll while Ince, of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP), was on 31.5%, state-run Anadolu news agency said, based on a 99% vote count. If confirmed, the figures would show Erdogan polling on a similar rating or even stronger than his 2014 election victory where he won his first mandate after over a decade as prime minister.