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Story: Hours after the polls closed on Sunday, Turkey held its presidential runoff election, with both rival parties appearing to claim the lead.
But officials from both the incumbent president Tayyip Erdogan and challenger Kemal Kirikdaroglu acknowledged that they may not meet the 50% standard for a complete victory.
Early results gave Erdogan a comfortable lead, but as the count progressed, Erdogan’s advantage faded.
Sunday’s vote is one of the most significant elections in Turkey’s 100-year history, which could end Erdogan’s 20-year rule and have repercussions far beyond Turkish borders. There is
The defeat of Erdogan, one of President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, is likely to unsettle the Kremlin, but the Biden administration and many European and Middle Eastern leaders who had troubled relations with Erdogan. will comfort them.
Turkey’s longest-serving leader, he transformed the NATO nation of 85 million people into a global player, modernized Turkey through mega-projects, and built a military industry demanded by foreign nations.
But his volatile economic policies of low interest rates sparked a spiraling cost-of-living crisis and inflation that angered voters. The government’s slow response to a devastating earthquake that killed 50,000 people in southeastern Turkey added to voters’ dismay.
After years of state repression, Mr. Kilicdaroglu has restored democracy, returned to orthodox economic policies, empowered institutions that had lost their autonomy under President Erdogan’s harsh rule, and re-established relations with the West. He promised to lead Turkey in a new direction by
If neither candidate wins 50% of Sunday’s vote, a runoff election will take place on May 28.
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