Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attend a rally ahead of the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections, in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 12, 2023.
Dilara Senkaya | Reuters
Turkey’s presidential election could lead to an unprecedented run-in, as neither 20-year incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan nor challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu won outright on Monday morning.
With a struggling economy, tensions over relations with Russia and NATO, and concerns about a slide in authoritarianism, elections in the country of 85 million people are deeply divided. could hardly have happened at a more important time.
A candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote to win the intense race. If no one crosses that threshold, the vote moves on to a general election in the coming weeks.
With more than 99% of the votes counted as of 8 p.m. ET Sunday, Erdogan leads with 49.46% of the vote while Kilicdaroglu, who has pledged to bring about change and economic reform,, 44.79%, according to the Supreme Electoral Council of Türkiye (YSK).
Erdogan and his conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Muslim origin are confident. “We strongly believe that we will continue to serve our country for the next five years,” he told a crowd of supporters on Sunday night.
While Kilicdaroglu, who is representing a united front of six different opposition parties, all seeking to oust Erdogan, has vowed to win the election in the second round of voting.
This is a developing story and will be updated shortly.
