Erdogan stretches his rule into third decade by clinching Turkish presidential election

ISTANBUL – Recep Tayyip Erdogan has bagged the presidential run-off and has been re-elected as Turkish president, with many calling the feat the greatest political challenge of his career.

The 69-year-old secured victory in a presidential runoff that allowed him five more years to rule the country of 85 million. The Justice and Development Party leader enjoys huge popularity in his country, with the masses praising him for bringing progress.

Reports in international media show preliminary official results showed Erdogan leading with 52.20 percent of the votes while his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu got 47.86 pc votes.

In his speech after sweeping the current elections, Erdogan said it's time for Turkey to stand united on national goals and dreams. The populist leader said we are not the only winners, the winner is Turkey. democracy is the winner.

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Sharing his future strategy, he said fighting inflation and healing the wounds from a catastrophic earthquake would be their top priority.

As Erdogan and his aides committed to more progress, his rival Kilicdaroglu said he would continue to fight until there is real democracy in transcontinental nation.

Following the election sweep, hundreds of thousands of Erdogan supporters flocked to the palace.

For the recap, Erdogan opted for a social life intertwining with politics. He entered politics in the 70s and served as mayor of Istanbul in the 90s. His party faced restriction and he was jailed for months.

He however makes a comeback, with a new party and becomes prime minister in 2003. Ten years later, he secured Turkey's first presidential election.  He survived a coup in 2016 and used emergency powers to shun dissent.

In 2023, he outpaced Kilicdaroglu to be re-elected Turkish president, stretching his time in charge of Turkey beyond 20 years.