Erdogan wins Türkiye’s presidential election

(CNN) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won the second round of the presidential election, according to Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council.

In a live press conference, the Chairman of the Turkish Electoral Council, Ahmed Yener, stated that the following are the preliminary official results:

99.43% of the votes have been counted

Erdoğan 52.14%

Kilicdaroglu 47.86%

Erdogan declares his victory with a post-election speech thanking voters

Erdogan addressed a large crowd of visitors outside his Istanbul residence, where he declared victory despite no official results in the second round of Sunday’s presidential election.

“I want to thank each and every member of my nation who gave us the responsibility of running our country for five years with their election,” Erdogan said after singing on top of a nearby bus surrounded by his supporters.

“I hope we will be worthy of your trust as we have been for 21 years.”

Erdogan also thanked the nation for giving Turkey a “day of democracy.”

“We have completed the second round of the presidential elections with the favor of our nation. I would like to express my gratitude to my nation for giving us a day of democracy,” Erdogan said.

“The winners of both the May 14 and May 28 elections are all of our 85 million citizens.”

Celebrations in Türkiye awaiting official results

The official results of the elections are not yet known, but supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have already started celebrating in Istanbul.

In Taksim Square, people gathered to chant Erdogan’s name and “God is great.”

Outside Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party headquarters, hundreds of people began arriving after the first round of preliminary results showed Erdogan ahead. Some came with children, while others waved flags, honked car horns, and set off sparklers and fireworks.

Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan’s rival, vows to keep fighting until there is “real democracy”

Presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu said he would continue to fight for “real democracy” in Turkey, in a speech from his party’s Ankara headquarters.

In these elections the will of the people to change an authoritarian government has been made clear despite all the pressures,” Kilicdaroglu said.
Although the speech had echoes of a concession speech, Kilicdaroglu did not openly admit defeat. However, he said that what “truly saddens me are the hard days that lie ahead for our country.”

Kilicdaroglu also addressed allegations that Erdogan galvanized his supporters by making unsubstantiated claims against his opponents. Erdogan has accused Kilicdaroglu of colluding with Kurdish terror groups and has repeatedly referred to the opposition leader – a member of the liberal Muslim Alevi minority – as a not-good-enough Muslim.

“This has been the most unfair electoral period in our history… We have not given in to the climate of fear,” Kilicdaroglu said.