Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish President and leader of AKP, addressed the public from his balcony while the vote counting was still underway. In his speech, Erdogan mentioned that they were still unsure if the elections had ended in the first round. He added that if the people had decided to take the elections to the second round, they would hold a special place in their hearts.
President Erdogan addresses citizens after elections
Speaking to the citizens gathered outside the AKP headquarters, President Erdogan said, “Our country has successfully completed yet another ‘democracy festival’ with the May 14th elections. Although the official results have not yet been announced, we are clearly ahead. It is clear that it will take some time for the unofficial results of the domestic votes to be announced, as well as the counting of overseas votes. We are not trying to deceive anyone who knows that we are far behind by claiming that we are ahead. We have always been sincere and honest with our people. Today, we know that we are clearly ahead in the election.”
Erdogan shows commitment to national will and democracy
Erdogan said, “Turkey has once again demonstrated its commitment to the supremacy of the national will. We showed this with the turnout rate. This has never happened in our history. We completed this election without any significant incidents. We demonstrated this fact under the supervision of all party representatives. The fevers of CHP executives and some mayors, which are entirely the result of their internal struggles, do not change this fact. Our country has a process that will be an example to the world in terms of both the use of political rights and freedoms and the reliability of the election system. We have always respected the decision of the national will throughout our political lives. We respect it in this election as well. We will continue to respect it in future elections.”
Belief in First-Round Victory
Erdogan, who stated that he expects the same democratic maturity from everyone, said, “Everyone has spoken to our people during this process, and our people have made their decision today. There is no point in coming up with new justifications. When the unofficial results are announced, we will all see what the people’s decision was. Regardless of the outcome, I thank the 27 million citizens who voted for us in the presidential election. I thank the 56 million citizens who participated in the democracy festival, no matter who they voted for. We are ahead by approximately 2.6 million votes. I believe this number will increase even more when the official results are announced. We don’t know if the elections have ended in the first round yet. If the people have chosen for the election to go to the second round, then they have a special place in our hearts. Overseas votes have not yet been fully transferred to our country, and the counting is still ongoing. We believe it will end in the first round. I ask all of our brothers and sisters who support us to continue to be vigilant. The parliamentary elections have resulted in the majority for the People’s Alliance. The majority in the parliament is with the People’s Alliance.
