Erdogan wins five more years as Turkey's president
With reporting from Paul Kirby, Ece Goksedef, and Orla Guerin in Ankara and Anna Foster in Istanbul
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With reporting from Paul Kirby, Ece Goksedef, and Orla Guerin in Ankara and Anna Foster in Istanbul
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Edited by Alexandra Fouché and Owen Amos
All times stated are UK
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'Erdogan has proved he delivers change'
Ece Göksedef
Live reporter in Ankara
A husband and wife stand in front of the palace in Ankara to celebrate Erdogan’s victory, so I stop to speak to them both.
Resul Demirci tells me: “He is the man of the nation, he produced defence industry products, improved the infrastructure.”
Also, he says Erdogan is a very strong leader for all the region, not only Turkey.
His wife, Inci, adds Turkey had so many problems 20 years ago.
“I am not a fanatic," she tells me. "I could have voted for the opposition if I believed they were strong too."
Erdogan not an easy man to bet against
Selin Girit
BBC Turkish, in London
Although the final results are not in, the initial results suggest President Erdogan could extend his rule to a third decade by gaining over 52% of the votes.
Erdogan once again proved that he is not an easy one to bet against; however, opposition critics are saying that this wasn't an equal race to start with.
Erdogan being the president and the most powerful man in the country for decades, they argue he had all the state apparatus at hand and he was in fact in a much better place to beat rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu because the conditions were not equal.
BreakingErdogan thanks voters and claims win
Erdogan began his address by singing to the crowd. Speaking from the top of a campaign bus, he thanked voters and said they had given him responsibility to rule Turkey for another five years.
Erdogan supporters celebrate near presidential palace
Ece Göksedef
Live reporter in Ankara
I am on the road to the presidential palace in the capital, where incumbent President Erdogan is expected to speak later.
People are celebrating in their cars with horns and Erdogan chants.
AKP supporters are handing out Turkish flags and AKP flags for free.
My taxi driver, who told me he was a Kilicdaroglu supporter, was afraid of being attacked for not joining the crowds celebrating and grabbed a free Turkish flag just in case.
Video content
Erdogan addresses crowd in Istanbul
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has begun speaking to supporters outside AK Party headquarters in Istanbul.
We will bring you more as we get it.
A celebratory atmosphere at Erdogan's party HQ
Anna Foster
Reporting from Istanbul
The traffic is at a complete standstill outside Erdogan's AK Party headquarters in Istanbul.
Cars are sounding their horns and flashing their lights. It’s loud and chaotic.
People are hanging out of vehicles waving Turkish flags, and sellers are weaving though the traffic jams offering Erdogan banners and red headbands with his name printed on the front.
Even though the vote counting is far from complete, it’s a celebratory atmosphere here already, filled with noise and energy.
Hungarian PM and Qatari Emir congratulate Erdogan
The most recent official update had Erdogan on 54.47% of the vote, with just over half of ballot boxes open.
But despite that uncertainty, leaders from other countries are already congratulating Turkey's incumbent president.
Qatar's Emir Tamim Bin Hamad writes on Twitter: "My dear brother Recep Tayyip Erdogan, congratulations on your victory, and I wish you success in your new term."
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has also hailed an "unquestionable" victory for his ally.
In pictures: Counting under way across Turkey
Major crises were not enough to defeat Erdogan two weeks ago
Prof Emre Erdogan
Bilgi University
The 14 May 2023 elections were marked by numerous surprises, not least of which was the lower-than-expected performance of the Table of Six, a coalition of six parties seeking to put an end to Recep Tayyip Erdogan's long rule.
The vote decided both the first round of the Turkish presidential election, as well as the make-up of its parliament.
The broad range of the Table of Six, which gathered parties from very different political views under the name Nation’s Alliance and received the support of the Kurdish political movement, was not reflected in the ballot box.
Major crises such as the pandemic, Turkey's economic crisis and February earthquake were not enough to defeat Erdogan. And although Erdogan's AK Party lost votes, it retained the upper hand in the parliament.
To some observers, the backers of Kemal Kilicdaroglu seemed unprepared for the second round of the elections.
It was seen in the way the results of the first round poll were announced, and in a change to the campaign team after this.
The improvisation of political negotiations and radical changes in the discourse in the run-up to the second round were also signs.
Vote coincides with anniversary of Gezi Park anti-government protests
Selin Girit
BBC Turkish
The first round of the presidential elections was held on a symbolic day in Turkish history. So is the second round.
Today is the 10th anniversary of the start of the anti-government Gezi Park protests - a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest taking place initially in the park adjacent to Istanbul’s famous Taksim Square which then spread across Turkey.
Sparked by an opposition to the urban development project involving Gezi Park, and the violent eviction of a small group of activists protesting there, this soon turned into the biggest anti-government riots the country had seen for decades.
Mainly composed of young people and with no centralised leadership, millions of protesters over three weeks demanded more freedoms, and that their voices were heard especially by the mainstream media that became increasingly under government control. An opposition to what some called the increasing Islamisation of the society was also evident.
President Erdogan accused the protesters of trying to overthrow the government and dismissed them as "a few looters". Critics accused the government of using disproportionate force to disperse the protests. Eleven people were killed and more than 8,000 were injured.
Today, the Gezi Park protests are seen as one of the major thresholds in modern Turkey’s history with the opposition blaming the government for trying to supress all dissident voices.
Last year, an Istanbul court sentenced prominent Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala to life in prison without parole for allegedly orchestrating the Gezi Park protests. The court also sentenced seven other defendants to 18 years in prison.
BreakingSupreme Election Council says Erdogan is ahead with 54.47%
Turkey’s Supreme Election Council head Ahmet Yener has just said that Erdogan is ahead with 54.47% of the votes and Kilicdaroglu is following with 45.53% - and 54.6% of the ballot boxes are counted.
He said that the number of the votes counted is over 26 million.
This is the first official update saying Erdogan is ahead since voting closed.
Erdogan takes lead - latest results
Here are the latest results from the two competing agencies - the state agency Anadolu's lead for Erdogan has already come down some way.
Private agency Anka initially gave Kilicdaroglu the lead and now has the president in front by 2-3%.
And just a reminder these unofficial results are based on ballot boxes opened - not the percentage of votes.
In pictures: Voters wait as contest looks tight
It has been just over an hour since Turkey's Supreme Election Council lifted the news blackout on reporting results.
As we've been reporting, initial results in the presidential run-off suggest a tight contest - with Erdogan ahead in early announcements.
While we wait for more ballots to be counted, let's have a look at some photos from Ankara.
Opposition claims one in every two votes
Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor in Ankara
There's been another briefing here at the CHP opposition headquarters from spokesman Faik Oztrak, who says there's a close and very competitive race going on.
At the moment, it appears we've got one vote out of every two people, he said.
Latest results from the two news agencies both give Erdogan the lead - the state agency puts him almost six points ahead, the rival Anka agency says it's just one point.
Oztrak started off by warning that the president's side had already started a deception operation and vowed the Kilicdaroglu camp would ensure any irregularities would be prevented by its army of volunteers.
He then warned Erdogan not to declare victory: "Don't try to muddy the waters with speeches from the balcony."
Both agencies say Erdogan is ahead
As per both Anka and AA news agencies, more than 85% of the ballot boxes are open now.
AA says Erdogan is ahead with 52.93%, Kilicdaroglu follows with 47.07%.
For the first time since the polls closed, Anka also says Erdogan is ahead, with 50.65% of the votes. Kilicdaroglu follows with 49.35%.
What happened to the third candidate in the presidential election?
Right-wing nationalist Sinan Ogan received 5.17% of the votes in the first round.
For the second round, he has declared support for Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
This was the first time Ogan ran for the presidency and as he does not have a party, it is not clear how his supporters will vote in the second round.
But Ogan has said he expects 70% of those who voted for him to follow his lead.
These votes could decide the election.
In an interview with the New York Times, Ogan said he would demand a senior position in exchange for his support: “Why should I be a minister when I can be vice president?" he said.
The basics about Turkey
While we wait for more updates on results, here's a reminder of some basic facts about Turkey.
The country is one of the few predominantly Muslim countries that is secular - that is, with no official state religion.
Once the centre of the Ottoman Empire, the modern secular republic was established in the 1920s by nationalist leader Kemal Ataturk.
Straddling the continents of Europe and Asia, Turkey's strategically important location has given it major influence in the region - and control over the entrance to the Black Sea.
Joining the European Union has been a longstanding ambition for this country of some 85 million people.
Membership talks were launched in 2005, but have stalled over serious misgivings about Turkey's human rights record.
The country’s economy has been generally unstable over the last decade, with the Turkish lira losing 90% of its value against the US dollar, according to World Bank and Turkey’s Central Bank data.
Even though the country’s laws are those of a secular democratic state, society and politics have been largely influenced by President Erdogan’s conservative Islamist-rooted party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been in government for the last 20 years.
First results show tighter race than imagined
Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor in Ankara
Here are the latest results given by the two Turkish agencies, Anadolu and Anka.
As you can see, Anka gives Kilicdaroglu the lead, Anadolu his opposite number.
It's too early to say which way this will go.
Hundreds of thousands of volunteers monitoring the voting process
Ece Göksedef
Live reporter in Ankara
More than 400,000 volunteers for opposition parties applied to monitor ballot boxes during voting, counting and registering the results.
Gokce is one of them.
“The fact that we have to do that to protect our votes is too bad, but still, the people will shape the state," she says.
"As conscious as we get, the state will have to do its job to stop irregularities on the day of voting."
Her lawyer friend Sena, who is also a volunteer, says that she felt safe when hundreds of thousand of people volunteered.
“Of course it would be much better if we didn’t have to do that," she says.
"My parents were telling me that they used to trust the election bodies and officials, and never felt that they needed to volunteer to monitor the ballot boxes before.
"But if that’s the situation now, that’s our responsibility to be here today.”
BreakingResults blackout lifted
Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor in Ankara
Turkey's Supreme Election Council has lifted its news blackout on reporting results and already we're getting quite a lot of initial results.
There are two rival news agencies reporting them, Anka and Anadolu and their numbers are very different.
Anka is giving Kemal Kilicdaroglu the lead based on 42% of ballot boxes opened - with 50.87% to 49.13% - and a reminder these are very early days.
Anadolu gives Erdogan a wide lead of 57.09% to 42.91% again based on 42% of ballot boxes being opened. So that's not the percentage of votes counted - it's the proportion of 192,214 ballot boxes, because every box has a different number of votes.
Turnout is down four points on two weeks ago, according to Anadolu - which would be around 84-85%.