Arab Tweeps celebrate Erdogan's victory with viral hashtag

“Erdogan won”, reads an Arabic hashtag that went viral as the results of Turkish municipal elections started to come out on Sunday.

Twitter and Facebook users from across the Arab World used the hashtag #فاز_أردوغان to celebrate the victory of Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan’s party in local polls with a wide margin. Erdogan is hailed in the Arab world as a model leader whose party brought about economic and social welfare for his people, in addition to his firm opposition to the Egyptian coup and the fascist Syrian regime.

Most participants in the hashtag agreed that Erdogan and his party succeeded in reaching out to different constituencies of the Turkish people and addressing their needs.

Thanks to Erdogan’s AK Party, some Tweeps said, Turkey achieved a leap in economic growth which led to a marked increase in average living standards. Before Erdogan, the per capita income did not exceed USD 3,000. Now, however, it is higher than USD 10,000. This places Turkey among the 10 richest countries in terms of per capita income.

Arab Twitter and Facebook users considered Erdogan’s victory as a victory for Syrians, Palestinians, all Arab and Muslim-majority countries. Erdogan’s government has provided unprecedented humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees and internally displaced Syrians following the revolution.