Erdogan claims presidential victory

2023-05-28 19:20:00

Article posted on 05/28/2023 at 17:27 | Updated 05/28/2023 20:20

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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed victory in the second round of the presidential election in Turkey on Sunday.

« Our nation has entrusted us with the responsibility of governing the country for the next five years “, he declared on the roof of a bus in front of his Istanbul residence towards which an enthusiastic crowd converged.

« We will keep all our promises made to the people “, launched the Head of State, in power for twenty years, affirming that “ every election is a rebirth ». « This election has shown that no one can attack the achievements of this nation “, he continued.

According to the official Turkish Anadolu agency, Mr. Erdogan, in power for twenty years, won 52.1% of the vote, against 47.9% for his opponent Kemal Kiliçdaroglu after counting nearly 99% of the vote.

The Turkish presidential election

The presidential election in Turkey is a major event for the country. Turkish voters go to the polls to choose their president, who wields considerable power. This election determines the political orientation and the policies put in place in the country for the years to come.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a controversial president, both domestically and internationally. His supporters see him as a strong leader, capable of making decisive decisions for the good of Turkey. However, his critics accuse him of authoritarian drift and reducing democratic freedoms in the country.

The dominance of Erdogan

This presidential election is of capital importance for the future of Turkey. The results will have repercussions on many aspects of the political, economic and social life of the country. Turkish voters thus have the opportunity to shape the future of their nation by choosing their next president.

The final results of the Turkish presidential election will be announced later in the evening when the counting of all ballots is complete. The outcome of this election will be closely scrutinized, both in Turkey and around the world, due to the geopolitical importance of the country, particularly since the important role of mediator in the framework of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

President Erdogan’s priority projects

– More than a priority, it will be an emergency to relieve a breathless population: official inflation remained in April at more than 40% over one year after having exceeded 85% in the fall, the result of a drop regular interest rates desired by President Erdogan.

Between August and February, the main key rate was lowered from 14% to 8.5%, cuts justified by the central bank by the desire to support “employment and industrial production”.

Mr. Erdogan asserts, contrary to classical economic theories, that high interest rates encourage inflation and he indicated during his campaign that he had no intention of raising them.

– The Turkish lira has lost more than half its value in two years and reached 20 pounds to the dollar this week.

According to official data, Ankara spent 25 billion dollars in a month to support it. But its collapse seems inevitable. Especially since foreign currency reserves have gone into the red for the first time since 2002.

  • POST-EARTHQUAKE RECONSTRUCTION

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6 devastated entire areas of southeastern Turkey, killing at least 50,000 people and displacing more than three million.

President Erdogan has promised to rebuild 650,000 homes in the affected provinces as soon as possible.

The total cost of the damage of the disaster amounts to more than 100 billion dollars according to the UN and Mr. Erdogan.

  • ENTRY OF SWEDEN INTO NATO

Turkey’s NATO allies are waiting for Ankara to lift its veto on Sweden’s entry into the Atlantic Alliance, which has been blocked since May 2022.

While Stockholm has multiplied goodwill gestures, including the adoption in early May of a new anti-terrorism law, Turkey – like Hungary – has remained inflexible, continuing to demand the extradition of dozens of opponents presented as Kurdish “terrorists” or from the movement of the Turkish preacher in exile Fethullah Gülen, whom Ankara accuses of being behind the coup attempt of July 2016.

NATO foreign ministers are due to meet in Oslo on Tuesday before the summit of heads of state in July in Vilnius, who are expecting good news.

The Turkish veto against Finland was however lifted in early April.

The two Nordic countries, traditionally neutral, had applied for membership after the Russian aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, feeling vulnerable in the face of their powerful neighbor.

  • RECONCILIATION WITH SYRIA

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has tried in recent months to get closer to his neighbor, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but despite Russian mediation his attempts have not succeeded.

Mr. Assad demanded prior to any meeting with his counterpart the withdrawal of Turkish forces stationed in northern Syria under rebel control and an end to Ankara’s support for rebel groups opposed to Damascus.

Turkey, which has launched several incursions against jihadist and Kurdish groups in Syrian territory since 2016, welcomes 3.4 million Syrian refugees who fled the war on its soil.

Mr. Erdogan announced in early May the construction of 200,000 homes on thirteen sites in northern Syria to allow the “voluntary” return of at least one million people.

(with AFP and Archyde.com)