Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu

Recep Erdogan won Turkey's first-ever runoff election and will continue as the country's president.

Just over 52% of voters voted for him. The candidate of the opposition National Alliance, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, is supported by about 48 percent of Turkish citizens. The results are for processing more than 99% of the protocols.

President Tayyip Erdogan extended his two decades in power in elections on Sunday, winning a mandate to pursue increasingly authoritarian policies which have polarized Turkey and strengthened its position as a regional military power.

His challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, called it "the most unfair election in years" but did not dispute the outcome.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan headed for victory in the presidential runoff election on May 28, securing another five-year term in the presidency.

Erdoğan is reelected Türkiye's president in the runoff election with 52.14 percent of the votes according to unofficial results, Supreme Election Council (YSK) Chair Ahmet Yener announced.

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the joint presidential candidate of the Nation Alliance, has vowed to continue his struggle for democracy and called on the people to stand tall in the coming period.

"The Nation Alliance, with all its components, did struggle on all fronts. We will continue to give this struggle," Kılıçdaroğlu said in a statement late on May 28.

To the dismay of secular and Westernized segments of Turkish society Erdogan once again proved his popularity. With 49.5 percent of the votes, he came very close to winning in the first round. The next round is scheduled for Sunday and Erdogan is now the clear favorite. It was not supposed to be that way.

Only a few hours remain before the first presidential runoff in the history of Turkey. Tens of thousands attended election rallies by Recep Erdogan and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on May 26 urged opposition Nation Alliance candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to reveal the details of their agreement with the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), now also known as the Green Left Party (YSP).

Millions of Turkish citizens on May 28 headed to ballot boxes established across the country to cast their votes in the presidential election runoff.

The country has witnessed the first runoff election since the new presidential system was accepted in 2018.

Following an inconclusive result in the initial vote necessitating a runoff election between the top two contenders, incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Nation Alliance's candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Turkish citizens are poised to cast their ballots once again on May 28.

Election posters of Turkish presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the opposition Republican People's Party, in Istanbul, 25 May 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ERDEM SAHIN

"If there is no change at the ballot box, it will be a disaster in the economy and democracy," Demirtas wrote on Twitter on Friday.