Sunday, August 10, 2014

Turkey: Erdogan Wins Presidential Election - UPDATE

Update: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wins the presidential election by 52 percent of the votes.


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Turkish citizens cast votes in the country’s first presidential election, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan leading by 57% of the vote in the exit polls, far ahead of his main rival, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.

Until now, Turkish presidents were elected by the parliament and the presidency was seen as mainly ceremonial post in a parliamentary system. Edogan made changes to the office, with the president elected directly by the people, and creating a powerful presidency within a parliamentary system. He will be the first elected president, solidifying his grip on power.

The polls had shown that the Kurds were the deciding factor in Erdogan’s victory. Some 53 million voters were to cast their ballots. The Turks were divided into roughly two equal camps of pro-Erdogan and the opposition; with the Kurds casting the decisive votes in favor of Erdogan.

File Photo: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Yahoo! News)

2 comments:

Unknown said...

This man changed Turkey and made it a better place forever. I take my hat off to him, and wish that Rouhani does the same to Iran, which would be even more admirable, since Rouhani has a bigger burden to bare, and much more challenges to overcome.

Anonymous said...

not sure sure that Erdogan is to be credited with much of what Turkey has accomplished in late years. most of it is due to industrialization and economic growth that was well underway prior to his ascension to power...and much else is to be credited to the foreign policies of Davutoglu.

Erdogan's actions inside Turkey are rather a mixed bag of good and bad.