ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has fended off a challenger seeking to reverse his authoritarian swings, securing another five years to oversee the country at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. a key role in NATO.
Erdogan prevailed by winning more than 52 percent of the vote in Sunday’s runoff, which came two weeks after he failed to win outright in the first round. A majority of Turkish voters in the second round chose him over rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu, showing their support for a man they see as a strong and proven leader.
Voters were divided between loyalty to Erdogan, who has ruled for two decades, and hopes for the opposition candidate, who promised to return to democratic norms, adopt more mainstream economic policies and improve ties with the West.
With his immediate political future secure, Erdogan must now deal with skyrocketing inflation that has fueled a cost-of-living crisis and rebuild after a devastating earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people.
In two speeches, one in Istanbul and one in Ankara, Erdogan thanked the nation for entrusting him with the presidency again.
“We hope to be worthy of your trust, as we have been for 21 years,” he told supporters on a campaign bus outside his home in Istanbul.
He said the divisiveness of the election is over, but continued to criticize his opponent.
“The only winner today is Turkey,” Erdogan said outside Ankara’s presidential palace, vowing to work hard for Turkey’s second century, which he called the “Turkish century.” The country celebrates its centenary this year.
There are supreme challenges ahead, starting with the economy that has taken a beating from what critics see as Erdogan’s unorthodox policies. It also has massive reconstruction efforts in 11 provinces affected by the Feb. 6 earthquake that leveled entire cities.
Kilicdaroglu said the election was “the most unfair ever”, with all state resources mobilized by Erdogan.
“We will remain at the forefront of this struggle until real democracy comes to our country,” he said in Ankara. He thanked the more than 25 million people who voted for him and asked them to “stay straight.”
The people have shown their will “to change an authoritarian government despite all the pressures,” Kilicdaroglu said.
Supporters of Erdogan, a divisive populist and master orator, took to the streets to celebrate, waving Turkish or ruling party flags, honking car horns and chanting his name. Celebratory gunshots were heard in several neighborhoods of Istanbul.
His next term is sure to include more delicate maneuvering with NATO colleagues over the future of the alliance and the war in Ukraine.
Leaders around the world sent their congratulations, highlighting Turkey and Erdogan’s greater role in global politics.
Western politicians said they were willing to continue working with Erdogan despite years of sometimes strained relations. More imminently, Turkey holds the cards of Sweden’s hopes for joining NATO. The offer is aimed at strengthening the military alliance against Russia and is critical to the continuation of a deal to allow grain shipments from Ukraine and avert a global food crisis.
“Nobody can look down on our nation,” Erdogan said in Istanbul.
Steven A. Cook, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations, said Turkey is likely to “move the target site” on Sweden’s NATO membership as it pursues demands from the United States.
He also said that Erdogan, who has talked about introducing a new constitution, is likely to make an even bigger push to block changes adopted by his conservative and religious Justice and Development Party, or AKP.
In his victory remarks, Erdogan said rebuilding the cities hit by the earthquake would be his priority. He also said a million Syrian refugees would return to Turkish-controlled “safe zones” in Syria as part of a resettlement project being run with Qatar.
Erdogan has maintained the support of conservative voters who remain loyal to him to raise the profile of Islam in Turkey, which was founded on secular principles, and to increase the country’s influence in international politics.
Erdogan’s rival was a mild-mannered former official who has led the pro-secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP, since 2010. It took months for the opposition to unite behind Kilicdaroglu. He and his party have not won any elections in which Erdogan has run.
In a frenzied outreach effort to nationalist voters in the runoff, Kilicdaroglu promised to send in refugees and ruled out peace talks with Kurdish militants if elected.
Erdogan and pro-government media portrayed Kilicdaroglu, who was backed by the country’s pro-Kurdish party, as colluding with “terrorists” and supporting what they called “deviant” LGBTQ rights.
In his victory speech, Erdogan repeated these themes, saying that LGBTQ people cannot “infiltrate” his ruling party or its nationalist allies.
In Ankara, Erdogan voter Hacer Yalcin said Turkey’s future was bright.
“Of course, Erdogan is the winner… Who else? He has done everything for us,” Yalcin said. “God bless us!”
Erdogan, a 69-year-old Muslim, will remain in power until 2028.
He transformed the presidency from a largely ceremonial role to a powerful position through a narrowly won 2017 referendum that scrapped Turkey’s parliamentary system of government. He was the first directly elected president in 2014 and won the 2018 election that inaugurated the executive presidency.
The first half of Erdogan’s term included reforms that allowed the country to begin talks to join the European Union, as well as economic growth that lifted many out of poverty.
But he later moved to suppress media and freedoms and concentrated more power in his own hands, particularly after a failed coup attempt that Turkey says was orchestrated by US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. The cleric denies his involvement.
In the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir, metalworker Ahmet Koyun, 37, said: “It is sad on behalf of our people that a government with such corruption, these stains, has taken power again. The Mr. Kemal would have been great for our country, at least for a change of scenery.”
But he said everyone has to accept the results.
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Bilginsoy reported from Istanbul. Bela Szandelszky in Ankara, Turkey; Mujahit Ceylan in Diyarbakir, Turkey; and Cinar Kiper in Bodrum, Turkey, contributed to this report.
