Published: Less than 30 min ago
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is preparing for a second round of elections as he no longer has a majority of the votes in the ongoing presidential vote count.
The vote count is not complete. But President Erdogan still addressed the nation at the AKP party headquarters in Ankara on Monday night.
– We do not yet know if the election will end in the first round, Erdogan said from the balcony where he gave his victory speech after the previous presidential election.
Erdogan himself had expected to win already in the first round, he continued.
– If our nation has chosen a second round, that is also welcome, continued the sitting president.
With nearly 97 percent of the vote counted, President Erdogan has 49.4 percent, while challenger Kemal Kiliçdaroglu of the CHP party has 44.9 percent, according to the state-run Anatolia news agency.
Election results not clear
If none of the candidates reaches 50 percent when the votes are counted, there will be a second round of elections on May 28.
However, no official election results have yet been communicated from the Turkish election authority. Shortly before 01:00, the head of the electoral authority stated that only 87.1 percent of the votes have been counted, the BBC reports.
An announcement about the position is only expected when the votes have been counted.
Unclear about vote numbers
At the same time, there is uncertainty about the election result as it currently stands. During the election night, the opposition has claimed through its own channels that the vote count was manipulated and that the state news agency has first released counted votes from Erdogan-heavy districts in the northern and eastern parts of the country.
Kiliçdaroglu claimed in a brief speech late Sunday night that vote counts in constituencies where he has won have been systematically appealed by Erdogan’s AKP, delaying the reporting of votes where the opposition is strong.
– We will remain here until every vote has been counted, Kiliçdaroglu said according to the BBC.
Erdogan’s AKP has called the opposition’s statements “irresponsible”.