Turkey's Erdogan prevails in election test of his 20-year rule

[SouthBayDem]

Last edited Sun May 28, 2023, 09:29 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Reuters

ANKARA, May 28 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan extended his two decades in power in elections on Sunday, winning a mandate to pursue increasingly authoritarian policies which have polarised Turkey and strengthened its position as a regional military power.

His challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, called it "the most unfair election in years" but did not dispute the outcome.

Official results showed Kilicdaroglu won 47.9% of the votes to Erdogan's 52.1%, pointing to a deeply divided nation.

The election had been seen as one of the most consequential yet for Turkey, with the opposition believing it had a strong chance of unseating Erdogan and reversing his policies after his popularity was hit by a cost-of-living crisis.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/erdogan-positioned-extend-rule-turkey-runoff-election-2023-05-27/

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Original headline: “Turkey's Erdogan claims victory in presidential election”

Original excerpt:

ISTANBUL, May 28 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan claimed victory in Turkey's presidential election on Sunday, a win that would steer his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade.

Addressing supporters, Erdogan said voters had given him the responsibility to rule for the next five years.

"The only winner is Turkey," he said, addressing cheering supporters from atop a bus in Istanbul.

Final official results have yet to be released.

[Richard D]

1. Tragic

Poor Turkey.

My friends there are in mourning.

[PatSeg]

2. I was hopeful that he'd lose,

but I honestly figured he'd probably win. Turkey definitely is NOT a winner.

[Claustrum]

6. I was hopeful before the first vote.

But after seeing him get close to 49% of the vote and the 5% from the 3rd place finisher is a right wing person, I knew he would win in the runoff unfortunately.

[PatSeg]

9. That is so disturbing

This ultra right-wing mania seems to be a global problem. Apparently, it runs in cycles. How soon people forget and "Never again" just fades away.

[Claustrum]

10. And that is especially true with his recent economic record.

He lowered interest rate instead of the conventional wisdom to increase it, thus making inflation super bad in Turkey. Then there is the earth quake which revealed that his whole "I am going to revamp the building code to avoid deaths" that he rode in government with in his first election a complete lie.

Given, he has made a lot of economic gains in the last 10 years too. Still, his economic record in the last few years are horrible.

I am not doubting the votes there but their election is still rate not "free and fair" because he consolidated the whole media in Turkey. So, only his message got out while the media there suppressed any opposition to him.

[PatSeg]

11. A classic tactic from an authoritarian

Get control of the media and of course, the courts. They all seem to follow the same playbook and yet so many fall for it time and time again.

[Lonestarblue]

3. Too bad. Erdogan does nothing for Turkey's standing with anyone but Putin.

He has turned a once vibrant country into a country of religious extremism and persecution of truth.

[LeftishBrit]

4. Dreadful news

[LiberalArkie]

5. I don't think any ballots were found that were for the opposition candidate. Kind of like Sadamns

Iraq.

[peppertree]

7. To be fair, Kemal did get 48% - but yes, I don't doubt there was some fuzzy math

A bit like the "Texas landslides."

[Alexander Of Assyria]

8. Offer the winner of 48% a place in a unified government...unify the country.

[Claustrum]

12. No offense.

But would you have Biden offered a place for TFG since he won 4x% of the vote?

Nice sentiment but never going to happen.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

14. Apples and fascists.

[Initech]

13. Fuck. The bad guys win again.

[Ilsa]

15. Awaiting TFG's delightful endorsement of this outcome. nt

[2naSalit]

16. That truly sucks...

Seriously badly.

[pansypoo53219]

17. NPR had a segment on the opponent. sadly, this is better. sigh.