Turkey election results updates: Erdogan falls below 50%
Preliminary results are coming in after polls closed in Turkey’s elections.
This live blog is now closed; thank you for joining us.
This live blog is now closed; thank you for joining us.
For all the updates and the results from Turkey’s election, you can head over to our new live blog here.
- Results are coming in after polls closed in Turkey’s elections.
- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s share of the vote fell below 50 percent after early results published by the state-run Anadolu Agency.
- The third candidate Sinan Ogan of the right-wing ATA Alliance performed more strongly than expected.
- If no candidate secures more than half the votes in the first round of voting, a May 28 runoff will be held.
Analyst: ‘Spoiler’ Sinan Ogan’s support crucial in any run-off
Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu will both be courting support from Sinan Ogan of the right-wing ATA Alliance after the relative newcomer’s surprisingly strong showing in Sunday’s vote, analyst Soner Cagaptay has told Al Jazeera.
“He got enough votes to be a spoiler and deny either of the candidates a 50 percent outright victory, likely forcing the election into a run-off,” said Cagaptay, who leads the Turkey Research Program at the Washington Institute in Washington, DC.
Cagaptay said both men would be trying to court Ogan, but the more conservative Erdogan probably had the upper hand.
Erdogan supporters in celebratory mood outside party office in Ankara
The Turkish president’s supporters have been holding a boisterous rally outside the AK Party’s headquarters in Ankara as they await results.
They have been waving Turkish flags and setting off flares, and the mood seems celebratory.
Kilicdaroglu vows to win any run-off election
Kemal Kilicdaroglu has promised that if the presidential election goes to a run-off on May 28, he will win.
“If our nation says second round, we will absolutely win the second round,” he told reporters.
“This will for change in society is higher than 50 percent.”
Erdogan: We are far ahead in the vote
President Erdogan has said that he is far ahead of Kilicdaroglu in the presidential election, although he is not sure of his victory in the first round.
Erdogan, speaking at his party’s headquarters in Ankara, said he was 2.6 million votes ahead of the main opposition candidate.
“Throughout our political life, without exception, we have always respected the decision of the national will. We respect it in this election as well, and we will respect it in the next elections,” he said.
Erdogan also said he expected this number to rise with official results, adding: “We believe we will win in first round.”
Ogan warns Turkey’s election board over votes cast abroad
Presidential candidate Sinan Ogan has said that vote counting is not being done in a healthy environment for the ballots cast abroad.
“We have heard that some manipulations are carried out in the overseas vote counting processes,” Ogan tweeted.
He warned the country’s election board to “take the necessary measures immediately and ensure that the vote counting processes are carried out quickly”.
He added: “In addition, we will not allow a fait accompli with a manipulation of foreign votes. Do not stress the environment. This is up to the second round.”
Turkey parties squabble as crucial vote count seesaws
Tensions rise over differing reports of which presidential candidate was in the lead in knife-edge elections.
Read about Al Jazeera’s report from Istanbul here.
Kilicdaroglu: Our rival is ‘blocking the will of Turkey’
Kemal Kilicdaroglu has said that the Erdogan camp keeps objecting to the results from certain ballot boxes to block the system.
“There are ballot boxes that have been objected to six times, 11 times,” he said, adding: “You are blocking the will of Turkey.”
Kilicdaroglu said: “You cannot prevent what will happen through objections. We will not allow a fait accompli.”
He urged Erdogan to stop “perception management” and the national election board to act responsibly.
For all the latest results from Turkey’s presidential election, visit our live results page here.
Turkey’s lira sinks to two-month low in post-election trade
Turkey’s lira has slipped to a new two-month low as financial markets kicked off trading in the wake of the elections, with the race appearing headed for a run-off.
The currency weakened to 19.70 to the dollar before retracing some of its losses to 19.66, on track for its worst session since early November.
That was not far off the 19.80 level it hit in early March following deadly earthquakes in February.
Election official: 71.64% of the votes are in the system
Ahmet Yener, the head of the Turkish election board, has said that 71.64 percent of the votes within the country and 18.76 percent of the votes from abroad were entered into its system.
A total of 69.12 percent of the votes have been entered in the system, he added.
There are no delays in the entry of data from the presidential and parliamentary elections, he repeated.
Erdogan makes surprise appearance In Istanbul
President Erdogan, who was reported to be in the capital Ankara by Turkish state media earlier in the day, has made a surprise appearance in Istanbul.
He greeted supporters as he left his residence in the Istanbul district of Uskudar.
Opposition still winning in Diyarbakir and Adana: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Amr Halabi, reporting from Kahramanmaras, says big celebrations are ongoing in a central square in the city.
“The opposition is still winning in Diyarbakir and Adana. AKP is maintaining a lead in the other nine provinces affected by the earthquakes,” he said.
For all the latest results from Turkey’s presidential election, visit our live results page here.
No announcement yet about run-off backing: Ogan
Sinan Ogan, the presidential race’s third candidate backed by the right-wing Ata Alliance, foresaw the polls going to a second round.
At this time, Ogan said, there would be no announcement on who the alliance is going to support in the run-off.
He said that will take place after internal deliberations.
Ogan appears to be gathering more votes than expected, surpassing five percent.
‘We will chase every vote our nation cast until the end’: Aksener
Meral Aksener, leader of the second-largest party in Kilicdaroglu’s opposition alliance, has said their rivals were working to alter the public’s perception in another election.
“But we will not take it, because we have seen this movie many times before,” the IYI Party leader added in a tweet, apparently criticising the results reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency.
“We will chase every vote our nation cast until the end. We are here until morning! Do not worry; all is well – the sun is in its place! WE ARE WINNING!”
Erdogan’s share of votes falls below 50 percent
With 89 percent of the ballot boxes opened, preliminary unofficial results show President Erdogan’s share of votes at 49.94 percent, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.
As things stand, the Turkish presidential election is going for a run-off on May 28.
Election official: 47.08% of the votes are in the system
Ahmet Yener, the head of the Turkish election board, has said that the institution entered 47.08 percent of the votes within the country and 12.6 percent of the votes from abroad into its system.
There are no delays in the entry of data from the presidential and parliamentary elections, he said.
Kilicdaroglu leading in Istanbul ‘by a tiny margin’
Al Jazeera’s Abdelazeem Mohammed, reporting from Istanbul, says with only 15 percent of votes left to count in Istanbul, Kilicdaroglu is leading “by a tiny margin”.
“Kilicdaroglu received the highest number of the votes in his hometown Tunceli,” he said.
Mohammed added that most cities in central Turkey have voted for Erdogan, while the east and west of Turkey did not support the incumbent president. In central Turkey, Eskişehir is the only city that voted for Kilicdaroglu.
Tense days ahead if there is a runoff: AJ correspondent
Reporting from the AK Party’s HQs in Ankara, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar says supporters there are optimistic of a victory even there is a runoff.
“If it goes to a second round, the next two weeks are definitely going to be quite tense because Turkey is not used to runoffs,” Serdar added.
Erdogan’s lead shrinks
Erdogan’s lead in Turkey’s election continues to shrink: It is now at 50.01 percent, according to Anadolu Agency, with almost 86 percent of the ballot boxes opened.
Kilicdaroglu sits second with 44.1 percent.
Results ‘a great failure for the opposition’: Analyst
Political analyst Cengiz Tomar told Al Jazeera from Istanbul that “the results so far spell out a great failure for the opposition”.
“The results so far do not align at all with the sociological makeup of the Turkish people, where 35 percent of them are religious, conservative and on the right, and the remaining 65 percent are secular and Kurdish,” he said.
Istanbul district ‘like an abandoned town’
The streets of Istanbul’s Kadikoy district are empty as most of Turkey sat at home glued to their television sets to follow the knife-edge election results come in.
Cafés and restaurants are deserted, with waiting staff following the minute-by-minute developments on screens.
“It’s been like this since early this evening,” said waiter Mehmet Karaca, 23.“Everyone went home to see what happens. Kadikoy is like an abandoned town.”
Atmosphere at CHP HQ very optimistic
At the CHP HQ in Istanbul, big screens display two sets of results: one reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency and the other by CHP representatives, according to Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Vall Ould Dine.
“Whenever Erdogan’s percentage drops, I hear great applause,” he added. “All the recent statements criticise the agency. They are not saying they refuse to acknowledge the results, however.
“The atmosphere here at the CHP HQ is very optimistic despite the fact that everyone is speaking of a second round.”
CHP ‘looking forward’ to votes from Istanbul, Ankara
Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from CHP headquarters in Ankara, says the party is feeling “more and more confident” with preliminary results coming in and cutting into Erdogan’s lead.
“CHP, along with the opposition coalition, is looking forward to increasing numbers in major cities, and that the numbers in Istanbul and Ankara could be a strong indication that they are going to go to a run-off,” Ahelbarra said.
“In 2022, they put together this coalition from all walks of life with different affiliations. The reason why they did this was to consolidate gain because they know that the AK party, with the leadership of Erdogan for the past 20 years, makes it extremely difficult for them to win the elections. They are leading in Izmir, but they are hoping to increase their share of votes in Istanbul and Ankara.”
Erdogan asks supporters to stay at ballot boxes
Erdogan has released a statement on Twitter — here is a translation of what he said:
“The fact that the May 14 elections took place in the form of a great celebration of democracy with peace and tranquility is an expression of our Turkey’s democratic maturity.
“While the election was held in such a positive and democratic atmosphere and the vote counting is still going on, trying to announce results hastily means usurpation of the national will.
“We are pleased that the favour of our nation is reflected in the ongoing vote count.
“I ask all of my supporters and companions to stay at the ballot boxes, no matter what, until the results are officially finalised.
“I congratulate all the citizens who voted in the name of democracy and took part in the election process, and I express my gratitude to each and every one of them.”