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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan casting his vote in Istanbul
Photograph:
Umit Bektas / dpa
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was less than half a percent short of an absolute majority in Turkey's presidential election. According to the electoral authority, the incumbent president won 49.52 percent of the vote, according to the official final result. The figures deviate only minimally from the preliminary final result.
Because none of the candidates received an absolute majority of the votes, there will be a run-off election on May 28. Erdoğan will then face challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu again, who won 44.88 percent of the vote. The third-placed far-right candidate Sinan Ogan received 5.17 percent of the vote, while Muharrem Ince, who was eliminated before the election, received 0.43 percent.
Erdoğan received 800,000 more votes than in 2018 – but 4.7 million more voters also registered.
According to the electoral authority, the turnout was 87.04 percent, 0.8 percentage points higher than in 2018. Abroad, almost half of the eligible voters went to the polls (49.40 percent). Here, however, Erdoğan received well over half of the votes (57.70).
The final results of the parliamentary elections have not yet been published. According to the preliminary result, however, Erdoğan's alliance was once again able to secure an absolute majority of seats there.
hba/dpa