Turkey Election Results: Erdogan Falls Below 50%
Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu will both be courting support from Sinan Ogan of the right-wing ATA Alliance after the relative newcomer’s surprisingly strong showing in Sunday’s vote, analyst Soner Cagaptay has told our reporters.
“He got enough votes to be a spoiler and deny either of the candidates a 50 percent outright victory, likely forcing the election into a run-off,” said Cagaptay, who leads the Turkey Research Program at the Washington Institute in Washington, DC.
Cagaptay said both men would be trying to court Ogan, but the more conservative Erdogan probably had the upper hand.
Kilicdaroglu vows to win any run-off election
Kemal Kilicdaroglu has promised that if the presidential election goes to a run-off on May 28, he will win.
“If our nation says second round, we will absolutely win the second round,” he told reporters.
“This will for change in society is higher than 50 percent.”
Ogan warns Turkey’s election board over votes cast abroad
Presidential candidate Sinan Ogan has said that vote counting is not being done in a healthy environment for the ballots cast abroad.
“We have heard that some manipulations are carried out in the overseas vote counting processes,” Ogan tweeted.
He added: “In addition, we will not allow a fait accompli with a manipulation of foreign votes. Do not stress the environment. This is up to the second round.”
He warned the country’s election board to “take the necessary measures immediately and ensure that the vote counting processes are carried out quickly”.
Kilicdaroglu: Our rival is ‘blocking the will of Turkey’
Kemal Kilicdaroglu has said that the Erdogan camp keeps objecting to the results from certain ballot boxes to block the system.
“There are ballot boxes that have been objected to six times, 11 times,” he said, adding: “You are blocking the will of Turkey.”
Kilicdaroglu said: “You cannot prevent what will happen through objections. We will not allow a fait accompli.”
He urged Erdogan to stop “perception management” and the national election board to act responsibly.
Turkey’s lira sinks to two-month low in post-election trade
Turkey’s lira has slipped to a new two-month low as financial markets kicked off trading in the wake of the elections, with the race appearing headed for a run-off.
That was not far off the 19.80 level it hit in early March following deadly earthquakes in February.
The currency weakened to 19.70 to the dollar before retracing some of its losses to 19.66, on track for its worst session since early November.
