Categories: World

Turkey election: Count shows President Erdogan under threshold needed to avoid runoff

close Video

Turkey’s Erdogan cancels election rallies after falling ill on live TV

The Turkish president said he was forced to cancel rallies scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday on the advice of his doctor. 

Early results for the closely watched presidential election in Turkey show that support for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dipped below the majority required to win, signaling a likely runoff later this month. 

With more than 90% of ballot boxes counted Sunday, Erdogan had just under 50% of the vote, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. His main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, had 44.4% as the gap between the two shrank. 

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with supporters at a polling station, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, May 14, 2023. (DHA via AP)

Complicating the picture further, both sides have accused Anadolu Agency of manipulating the figures. Members of Kilicdaroglu’s center-left, pro-secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP, have contended that the state-run agency was biased in Erodgan’s favor.

“We are ahead,” tweeted Kilicdaroglu, 74, who ran as the candidate of a six-party opposition alliance.

SERBS MARCH ON BELGRADE IN DROVES AFTER BACK-TO-BACK MASS SHOOTINGS

Meanwhile, Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, has accused the opposition of “an attempt to assassinate the national will” by claiming the state news agency was distorting the results. He called the opposition claims “irresponsible.”

If neither candidate secures more than 50%, the two will compete in a run-off vote on May 28. 

An increasingly authoritarian ruler, Erdogan, 69, has governed Turkey as either prime minister or president for two decades. 

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the 74-year-old leader of the center-left, pro-secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP, and presidential candidate of Turkey’s main opposition alliance, and his wife Selvi Kilicdaroglu, vote at a polling station in Ankara, Turkey, Sunday, May 14, 2023.  (AP Photo/Ali Unal)

The presidential race has centered on domestic issues such as the economy, civil rights and a February earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people. Erdogan’s administration has faced sharp criticism over its handling of the earthquake, exacerbated by a lax implementation of building codes. 

While Erdogan hoped to win a five-year term that would take him well into his third decade as Turkey’s leader, Kilicdaroglu campaigned on a promise to return the country to a more democratic path and to repair its economy, battered by high inflation and currency devaluation.

More than 64 million people, including 3.4 million overseas voters, were eligible to vote. This year marks 100 years since Turkey’s establishment as a republic — a modern, secular state born on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Kilicdaroglu’s Nation Alliance pledged to return Turkey’s governance system to a parliamentary democracy if it won both the presidential and parliamentary ballots. It also promised to restore the independence of the judiciary and the central bank, and to reverse crackdowns on free speech and other forms of democratic backsliding in Turkey.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more. 

Share

Recent Posts

SCOOP: Republicans discuss defunding ‘big abortion’ like Planned Parenthood in Trump agenda bill

EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are discussing measures that could potentially end federal funding of groups like…

1 hour ago

Former Russian president calls Ukraine ‘a disappearing country’ and notes ‘Trump’s ratings have gone down’

Russian Security Council Deputy Chair Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president, referred to Ukraine as…

1 hour ago

Dems say Trump ‘firing the wrong guy’ after Waltz ousted as national security advisor

President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and other staffers are out at the…

1 hour ago

Trump jokes his admin will ‘forget about’ separation of church and state: ‘We’re bringing religion back’

President Donald Trump joked that his administration could end the separation of church and state…

1 hour ago

‘Draconian’ and dangerous: Former Trump nat sec advisor sounds alarm on Biden-era DOJ’s plans for Google

FIRST ON FOX – President Donald Trump's former national security advisor is sounding the alarm…

1 hour ago

Former ambassador says Ukraine victory is key to countering China, Russia

close Video Putin is 'pretty committed' to 'reordering' this, reveals former NATO ambassador Former U.S.…

3 hours ago