2023-05-28 20:04:30
End of the (pseudo) suspense. The indestructible Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed this Sunday the victory in the second round of the election presidential, which leaves him master of the Türkiye for five more years. Perched on a bus in front of his home in Istanbul, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, the 69-year-old head of state, including twenty in power, spoke in front of a sea of red flags waved by an enthusiastic crowd.
According to the results covering more than 98% of the ballots, published by the official Anadolu agency, the Head of State won 52.1% of the vote against 47.9% for his social-democratic rival Kemal Kiliçdaroglu who, 74 years old, lost the bet of the alternation and the “peaceful democracy” that he promised.
Spontaneous gatherings
“Our nation has entrusted us with the responsibility of governing the country for the next five years”, launched Erdogan, at the end of an election which forced him for the first time to a second round. “This election has shown that no one can attack the achievements of this nation,” he continued. Spontaneous gatherings formed everywhere in the cities where the “Reis” triumphed, especially in the heart of Anatolia.
Neither the desire for change and openness of part of the electorate, nor the severe inflation which is undermining Turkey, nor the restrictions on freedoms and the hyper-presidentialization of a power which has sent tens of thousands of opponents behind bars or in exile, weighed against the desire for security and stability that had already been expressed in the first round of voting. Not even the consequences of the terrible earthquake in February (at least 50,000 dead and 3 million displaced) in eleven provinces in the south of the country, which largely renewed the head of state.
Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, for his part, suffered one more defeat, despite a campaign which took the opposite view to that of the president by promising the “return of spring” in the face of invective. Considered by many, including within the opposition, as a dull candidate without charisma, Kemal Kiliçadaroglu, who led a coalition of six parties, had ended up imposing his mark, hearts with his fingers during his meetings and a posed eloquence of “demokrat dede”, a “democratic grandpa”. But he was unable to impose the economy or the crisis in the electoral debate and is preparing, as he had promised, to “return to take care of his grandchildren”.
Tired face, moving slowly, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had voted at midday in his neighborhood of Usküdar in Istanbul : a cheerful crowd was waiting for him, to whom the bodyguards distributed toys while the president slipped some banknotes to children. Almost simultaneously, all smiles despite the unfavorable forecasts, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu deposited his ballot at Ankara by encouraging his fellow citizens to vote “to get rid of an authoritarian government”.
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