Turkish presidential runoff election
Note: 99.43% ballot boxes were opened. Unofficial election results.
Source: Anadolu Agency, worldpop.org
Turkish presidential runoff election
Note: 99.43% ballot boxes were opened. Unofficial election results.
Source: Anadolu Agency, worldpop.org
In messages posted on Twitter, leaders on both sides of a geopolitical crevasse sent their best wishes: President Biden said he looks forward to “continuing to work together as NATO allies on bilateral issues and shared global challenges”; Russian President Vladimir Putin has adopted a new term for a “dear friend”; The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, praised Erdogan’s victory and encouraged cooperation, saying it is “of strategic importance for both the EU and Türkiye to work on advancing this relationship.” An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the victory of the Turkish president, proverb: “We look forward to a broader strategic partnership for the benefit of our people and a more secure future for humanity.”
During 20 years at the top of Turkish politics, Erdogan has turned the country into a key role on the world stage: It is a mediator in Syria and Ukraine, two of the most consequential wars of the past decade, and has hit more than $6 billion deal with the European Union that effectively gives Turkey responsibility for preventing millions of refugees from reaching the European mainland.
But at home, Erdogan ruled with an increasingly authoritarian bent. His unorthodox policies destroyed the economy, making it difficult for many citizens to survive. Critics have accused him of dismantling the country’s democracy by using repressive measures against journalists and civil society while centralizing power in the executive branch.
“I know there’s a ton of politics behind it but the congratulatory statements by world leaders are disappointing — too transactional. There is no mention that the democracy they seek is, in large part, oppositional action in the face of authoritarianism. So much was blown away,” Lisel Hintz, a professor of International Relations at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, tweeted as the compliments keep coming.
In the capital, Ankara, the noise of his supporters’ celebrations echoed into the early hours of the morning as men, women and children carried flags through the streets and campaign buses blasted songs in honor of president In the eyes of his voters, many of whom are conservative Muslims, Erdogan is the country’s great modernizer — a man who launched massive infrastructure projects across large parts of the country and oversaw the growth of the defense industry while bringing Islam back to public life.
International election monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have yet to issue their final analysis of Monday’s election process. The mission characterized the first round of voting, in which Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu advanced to Sunday’s runoff, as offering a real choice between the political alternatives of the day but on a playing field tilted in favor of incumbents.
Media outlets and opposition parties face restrictions, while Erdogan’s message has received wall-to-wall coverage in state media. An opposition candidate, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, was barred from running, in a move supporters described as a politically motivated effort to sideline a popular figure.
Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has established a vast patronage network that funnels state largesse to supporters across the country. In the months leading up to the election, he tapped the treasury to add a new package of populist sweeteners. The minimum wage is raised three times a year; households were promised free natural gas.
Sunday’s pivotal ballot also took place in the shadow of an earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people and devastated towns and cities in Erdogan’s southern base of support. Where Kilicdaroglu used the opposition campaign to accuse the state’s emergency response of corruption, Erdogan took his broad platform to promise that residents would have a roof over their heads again within a year. Across the fractured region, the president won back the vote.
