Turkey voted for 'stability, confidence' says winner Davuto?lu, pledging to embrace all

Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu, whose Justice and Development Party (AKP) won the Nov. 1 snap election by a landslide, has said the Turkish people voted for "stability and confidence," pledging to protect the rights of all citizens, not just AKP's supporters.

"Today is a victory for our democracy and our people ... Hopefully we will serve you well for the next four years and stand in front of you once again in 2019," Davuto?lu said early on Nov. 2, addressing thousands of people who waited for hours in the cold to hear him speak from the balcony of the AKP headquarters in Ankara.

With the AKP widely accused of anti-democratic steps in recent years, Davuto?lu also vowed to protect the rights of all 78 million of Turkey's people. 

"Our nation asked for stability and confidence. It has openly displayed that it wants a solution to its problems.

No step back will be taken from democracy, law, compassion and love. Everybody's rights are under assurance and the rights of everybody, of all our 78 million people, will absolutely be protected," he said.

Turkey has experienced sharp polarization, particularly in the five months leading up to the Nov. 1 election after the June 7 parliamentary election failed to produce a single-party government.

Davuto?lu delivered his speech after traveling to the capital Ankara from his hometown Konya, where he also earlier addressed crowds of cheering supporters near the tomb of the famous 13th century poet and mystic Mevlana Jalaladdin Rumi, widely viewed as a symbol of tolerance. Earlier in the evening, after it became clear that the AKP had won a decisive legislative majority sufficient to form a single-party government, the prime minister tweeted a message stating simply ...