With nearly 99% of ballot boxes opened, unofficial results showed Erdogan with 52% of the vote, compared with 48% for challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
Sunday’s vote was the first presidential runoff in Turkey’s history.
Erdogan wants to cement his image as the leader who refashioned Turkey into an industrial heavyweight as he pursues unorthodox economic policies aimed at supercharging growth. With the Turkish Republic about to enter its second 100 years, he has vowed to make it “Turkey’s century” with plans to build the country’s military and diplomatic influence.
Sunday’s vote represented uncharted territory for Turkish democracy: It was the first runoff in the nation’s history. Though turnout reached 88% in the first round, both contenders had feared there would be less appetite from voters to come out to the polls again; that was especially true for the opposition, whose inability to top Erdogan in the first round threatened to fracture the coalition and left some in its ranks demoralized.
Erdogan’s victory came despite an inflation rate that rocketed to 80% last year. Government figures say it has since fallen to a little more than half of that, but it hadn’t felt like it in large urban centers such as Istanbul, where unofficial estimates put price increases in the triple digits. “We’ve been doing the same thing for the last 20 years. We had some hope for this election,” he said. He paused, looking for a moment crestfallen. “Perhaps the look on my face says enough.”
From his time as mayor of Istanbul in 1994, to prime minister in 2003 and his nine years as president, he has placed Turkey’s Islamist movement at the center of the country’s political life, lifting bans on headscarves in state offices and universities, infuriating traditional elites who saw his maneuverings as a betrayal of the republic’s secular origins. He defanged a once-powerful military that had often been willing to act above the law and interfere in politics.
He also used his hold over state media to shut out the opposition — on Friday, Kilicdaroglu accused the government of blocking his campaign’s text messages to voters, calling Erdogan a “coward.”
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