Turkey's Supreme Election Council has declared President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the winner of Turkey's presidential runoff election on Sunday.
Erdogan wins Turkey's election
By Joshua Berlinger, Nadeen Ebrahim and Tamara Qiblawi, CNN
Updated 8:05 p.m. ET, May 28, 2023
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Breaking news: Erdogan declared winner of Turkey's runoff election
Erdogan rival Kilicdaroglu vows to continue struggle until there is “real democracy”
From Yusuf Gezer in Istanbul
Presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu said he would continue to fight for “real democracy” in Turkey in a speech from his party headquarters in Ankara.
In this election, the will of the people to change an authoritarian government became clear despite all the pressures," Kilicdaroglu said.
Although the address had echoes of a concession speech, Kilicdaroglu did not outright admit defeat. However, he said what “truly makes me sad is the hard days ahead for our country."
Kilicdaroglu also referenced allegations that Erdogan galvanized his supporters by hurling unfounded claims at his opponents. Erdogan has accused Kilicdaroglu of colluding with Kurdish terror groups and repeatedly referred to the opposition leader — a member of the liberal Muslim Alevi minority — as a not-good-enough Muslim.
“This was the most unfair election period in our history … We did not bow down to the climate of fear,” Kilicdaroglu said.
Russia's Putin joins chorus of world leaders congratulating Erdogan
From CNN’s Duarte Mendonca, Mia Alberti, Sahar Akbarzai, Shafi Kakar and Eyad Kourdi
Russian President Vladimir Putin joined a chorus of world leaders congratulating Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday over the runoff election results, although votes are still being counted and official results have yet to be released.
"The victory in the elections was a natural result of your selfless work as head of the Republic of Turkey, clear evidence of the Turkish people's support for your efforts to strengthen state sovereignty and pursue an independent foreign policy," Putin said in a statement.
Though Turkey is a member of the NATO alliance that Russia views as an existential threat, Erdogan and Putin have what the Turkish President called a "special" relationship. Erdogan said in an exclusive interview ahead of the presidential election runoff that the two nations "need each other in every field possible."
Putin is one of several world leaders who have congratulated Erdogan as results have started come in.
Here are some of the messages Erdogan has received so far:
- Afghanistan: The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted a congratulations message.
- Algeria: President Abdelmadjid Tebboune wished Erdogan the "warmest and most sincere congratulations" on behalf of himself and the Algerian people.
- Armenia: Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan congratulated Erdogan on Twitter and said he was "looking forward to continuing working together towards full normalization of relations between our countries." The two nations have historically had frosty diplomatic relations, in part due to Turkey's refusal to recognize the mass killings of Armenians in World War I as genocide. Turkey maintains that the deaths occurred in wartime and that there were losses on both sides.
- Azerbaijan: President Ilham Aliyev made a congratulatory phone call to President Erdogan, who also accepted an invitation to visit Azerbaijan.
- France: President Emmanuel Macron tweeted his congratulations to Erdogan in French and Turkish, highlighting the "immense challenges" the two nations must face together.
- Hungary: Prime Minister Viktor Orban applauded Erdogan's "unquestionable" electoral victory.
- Iran: President Ebrahim Raisi congratulated Erdogan and wished for the continuation of the two nations' "friendly relations," which will "will further strengthen and the close cooperation between the two countries will provide more suitable conditions for strengthening the peace and stability and development of the region."
- Pakistan: Prime Minister Shehbaz Shari said Erdogan's win was "significant in so many ways" and praised the Turksih president for being "one of few world leaders whose politics has been anchored in public service" and a "pillar of strength for the oppressed Muslims and a fervent voice for their inalienable rights."
- Qatar: Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani tweeted a congratulatory message to Erdogan and wished him success in his new term.
- Uzbekistan: President Shavkat Mirziyoyev congratulated Erdogan over a phone call.
Celebrations underway in Turkey as nation waits for official results
From CNN's Nada Bashir and Zeena Saifi in Istanbul
Official election results have yet to come in, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's supporters have already begun celebrating in Istanbul.
In Taksim Square, people gathered chanted Erdogan's name and "God is Great."
Outside the Istanbul headquarters for Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, hundreds of people began pouring in after the first round of preliminary results showed Erdogan in the lead. Some came with children, while others waved flags, honked car horns and set off flares and fireworks.
An Erdogan win would be a "Pyhrric victory," one of Kilicdaroglu's advisers tells CNN
From CNN's Tamara Qiblawi in London
Supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have taken to the streets to celebrate the Turkish leader’s lead in the preliminary vote count of Sunday’s presidential runoff.
But the gap between Erdogan and his rival Kemal Kilicdaraglou is narrow, despite Erdogan having won the endorsement of the race’s third-place candidate Sinan Ogan, analysts say.
"This is not a crushing defeat for those who wanted change," Turkey expert Asli Aydintasbas told CNN's Becky Anderson. "We are once again looking at a divided country ... both camps want entirely different things for Turkey.”
Erdogan has presided over high inflation and a cost of living crisis, a situation blamed largely on the president’s unorthodox economic policies. His opponents say his control over state resources and affiliation with the country’s media helped sway the vote in his favor.
Mehmet Karli, adviser to Kilicdaroglu, called Erdogan's apparent election win a "pyrrhic victory" accusing the president of fueling tensions during the election.
"It does appear that President Erdogan has won these elections. But it would be a mistake to call this a victory. Perhaps a Pyrrhic victory is a better term to describe this situation," Karli said.
Erdogan declares victory with post-election speech thanking voters
From Yusuf Gezer in Istanbul
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed a large crowd of visitors outside his residence in Istanbul, declaring victory despite the fact that no official result has been declared in Sunday's presidential runoff election.
“I would like to thank each and every member of my nation who gave us the responsibility of governing our country for five years with their choice,” Erdogan said after singing atop a bus nearby surrounded by his supporters.
“Hopefully, we will be worthy of your trust as it has been for 21 years."
Erdogan also thanked the nation for giving Turkey a "day of democracy."
"We completed the second round of the presidential election 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 14 May elections and the 28 May elections are all our 85 million citizens."
Erdogan is leading challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the latest official tally from Turkey's Supreme Election Council. With about 75.42% of the vote counted Erdogan is leading Kilicdaroglu by 53.41% to 46.59%.
Erdogan maintains lead in latest official vote tally
From Yusuf Gezer in Istanbul
Turkey's Supreme Election Council has given another update on the vote count in the country's runoff election to decide its next president.
With about 75.42% of the vote counted, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leads Kemal Kilicdaroglu 53.41% to 46.59%.
Here's a breakdown of the numbers in Turkey and abroad:
Domestic ballots
- Votes counted: 42.01%
- Erdogan: 60.75%
- Kilicdaroglu: 39.25%
Overseas ballots
- Votes counted: 76.41%
- Erdogan: 53.35%
- Kilicdaroglu: 46.65%
Erdogan leads Kilicdaroglu in latest official vote tally
From Yusuf Gezer in Istanbul
Turkey's Supreme Election Council said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is leading challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the latest preliminary official count of ballots.
The council said 54.6% of all votes have already been counted. Erdogan netted 54.47% of those ballots, while Kilicdaroglu has won 45.53% of them.
The Supreme Election Council will disclose the contest's official results. Most of the results reported so far have been unofficial tallies from Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency.
The vote in Istanbul appears close. Here's what that means
From CNN's Joshua Berlinger
Unofficial results from Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency show a tight race in Istanbul between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
With 85.70% votes in, Erdogan is trailing Kilicdaroglu 51.30% to 48.70% in the city.
Istanbul, with more than 15 million people, is Turkey's largest population center and an important electoral bellwether. While the center-left Kilicdaroglu typically performs better in urban areas than the conservative Erdogan, the race in Istanbul was tight during the election's first round. Kilicdaroglu won 48.56% of the vote there two weeks ago, but Erdogan came in a close second with 46.68%