(Istanbul) The indestructible Recep Tayyip Erdogan, confirmed on Sunday for five more years at the head of Turkey, called on his country to “solidarity and unity” in the face of the challenges that await it.
Perched on a bus in front of his home in Istanbul, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, the 69-year-old president, including 20 in power, had claimed victory in the early evening in front of a sea of red flags waved by an enthusiastic crowd.
“Our nation has entrusted us with the responsibility of governing the country for the next five years,” he said at the end of an election which forced him for the first time to a second round.
Back in Ankara in the middle of the night, celebrated by a crowd of tens of thousands of supporters who had been waiting for him for hours in front of the presidential palace, the head of state did not fail to boo his unfortunate adversary, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
PHOTO MURAD SEZER, REUTERS
Supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan gather in the streets of Istanbul.
Before estimating that it “is time to put aside the disputes of the electoral campaign and to achieve unity and solidarity around the dreams of our nation”.
“Turkey won! “, he launched between two giant portraits projected on the monumental facade: his and that of his most illustrious predecessor, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic which celebrates its hundredth anniversary this year.
According to the results covering more than 99.85% of the ballots, the Head of State won 52.16% of the vote against 47.84% for the Social Democratic candidate Kemal Kiliçdaroglu who, at 74, lost the bet of the “peaceful democracy” he promised.
Spontaneous gatherings
The Turkish Electoral Commission (YSK) confirmed the victory of the Head of State in the evening and will publish the final results at the beginning of the week.
In the evening, spontaneous rallies formed around the headquarters of his AKP party in Istanbul, whose streets resounded with honking and a considerable crowd gathered in front of the presidential palace in Ankara to wait for him.
Scenes of jubilation took place across the country as well as in several major European cities, including Berlin, where a large Turkish community lives.
“We are happy, God granted our wishes. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a very great leader, a very powerful leader. And he made Turkey progress a lot, ”welcomed Sunday evening in Istanbul Soner Ceylan, 52.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had made no secret of his support for the president, quickly hailed a “logical result” as did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said he hoped to “strengthen his ties with Ankara”.
First among Western leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron also “congratulated” Mr Erdogan, followed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Union officials Ursula Von der Leyen and Charles Michel, among others.
President Erdogan’s unfortunate rival spoke from the headquarters of his party, the CHP founded by Mustafa Kemal, to express his “real sadness at the difficulties facing the country”.
PHOTO: UGUR YILDIRIM, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu
Neither the desire for change of part of the electorate, nor the severe inflation which is undermining Turkey, nor the restrictions on freedoms and the hyper-presidentialization of a power which has sent tens of thousands of opponents behind bars or in exile, weighed against the desire for security and stability.
Not even the consequences of the terrible earthquake in February (at least 50,000 dead and 3 million displaced) in 11 provinces in the south of the country, which largely renewed the head of state.
Skill
“Erdogan played the nationalism card with great skill, the opposition failed to offer an alternative likely” to convince despite the country’s poor economic situation, said Galip Dalay, associate researcher Middle East Council on Global Affairs .
President Erdogan’s party, the Islamo-conservative AKP, on which he built his accession to supreme power, lost seats in Parliament, but retained its majority with its allies.
Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, for his part, suffered one more defeat after promising the “return of spring”.
Considered by many, including within his opposition alliance, as dull and lacking in charisma, Mr. Kiliçadaroglu failed to take advantage of the economic crisis to snatch victory.
Tired-faced, slow-moving Recep Tayyip Erdogan voted midday in his Usküdar district of Istanbul: a cheery crowd awaited him, to whom bodyguards handed out toys as he slipped some banknotes to children.
Almost simultaneously, all smiles despite the unfavorable forecasts, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu cast his ballot in Ankara, encouraging his fellow citizens to vote “to get rid of an authoritarian government”.
The Erdogan camp has constantly described the opposition led by Kiliçdaroglu as “terrorist” because of the support given to it by the leaders of the pro-Kurdish party HDP.
People interviewed by AFP in the polling station queues testified to the polarization of the country after these weeks of campaigning.
Challenging campaign
Kemal Kiliçdaroglu was largely deprived of access to the major media and especially to the official television channels, which reserved sixty times more airtime for his rival, according to the organization Reporters Without Borders.
Faced with his discreet rival of Alevi obedience, a branch of Islam considered heretical by the rigorous Sunnis, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has multiplied the gatherings, relying on the transformations he has been able to bring to the country since his accession to power. as prime minister in 2003.
His re-election comes 10 years to the day after the start of the large “Gezi” demonstrations which had spread throughout the country and had been severely repressed.