Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won 49.35 percent of the votes after the counting of all the votes in Sunday's presidential election in Turkey, while the opposition’s joint candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, secured the support of 45 percent of voters, state-funded TRT television reported.
ATA Alliance candidate Sinan Ogan received 5.22 percent. Homeland Party leader Muharrem Ince, who has withdrawn his candidacy, garnered 0.43 percent of the votes. The Supreme Election Council of Turkey considers the votes cast in Ince’s favor to be valid.
In order to win in the first round, one of the candidates had to receive 50% plus one vote. Since this was not the case, a runoff presidential election will be held on May 28.
Turkey's presidential and parliamentary elections are called "historical" because an opposition candidate has a chance to succeed for the first time in the 20 years of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule.
