By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL- What looked like a second round of a neck and neck Turkish election turned into victory for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again. Though opposition leader and CHP Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu came very close, he wasn’t able to get enough votes to win. Al Jazeera interviewed a professor from Koc University who said the mainstay of votes for Erdogan came from his constituents in Central Anatolia. Even though at least 50 percent of the Turkish population voted for Kilicdaroglu, there were a number of voters in the quake-hit southeastern region who went with Erdogan.
It was the first time in Turkish history that there was a second round of voting and that’s why analysts said the outcome was difficult to predict. Currently, more than 96% of the votes have been counted and experts predict the loss will be tough for Kilicdaroglu. This election, observers say, could cost Kilicdaroglu his political position while Erdogan has a tough road ahead to keep promises to the people hit by twin quakes in southeastern Turkiye and to fix runaway inflation in the country. Erdogan has been in politics for 40 years and analysts say he’s still the most popular politician in Turkiye.
The question now will be what future the six-party alliance that supported Kilicdaroglu has, experts say. This is the tenth loss for Kilicdaroglu and some analysts predict Kilicdaroglu will step down from the position of CHP Chairman. Speculation is that perhaps Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu might become CHP chairman if Kilicdaroglu steps down. Analysts say the “discourse” of the election should be considered because they pointed out that Kilicdaroglu had a “negative discourse,” and did not present a “meaningful” roadmap as to how they would solve issues in Turkiye. In Istanbul, Erdogan supporters are waving flags and there’s a party atmosphere on the streets of Istanbul not far from the Turkish president’s residence in Istanbul.
Erdogan gave a speech to his supporters thanking them for his support and said that the winner of this election are the 85 million people of Turkiye. Erdogan campaigned on telling his constituents what he had done so far for the infrastructure and in the earthquake-hit region. It’s clear that those who voted for Erdogan made the choice to remain with the status quo rather than take a chance on a new government.
Some analysts have commented that such a result was to be expected despite Turkiye’s serious economic crisis with the major devaluation of the Turkish lira against the dollar. It’s expected that Erdogan will appoint a new vice-president and the cabinet. He will also give a speech to world leaders and analysts say Erdogan has plans for normalization with Greece and Syria. As well, his plan is to visit the Egyptian president and create closer ties with the Middle East and throughout the region.
