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Turkish opposition candidate for presidency congratulates rival Erdogan on victory

August 11, 2014 at 9:32 am

Turkey’s main opposition presidential candidate Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu congratulated on Sunday his rival Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who according to preliminary results won the country’s first presidential election with more than 50 per cent of the vote.

Anadolu news agency quoted Ihsanoglu during a press conference held Istanbul as saying: “Almost all the presidential election’s unofficial results have now been announced and I have won between 30 to 40 per cent of the total votes, which means my defeat.”

Ihsanoglu expressed his hope that the election results would bring prosperity and stability to the country and thanked the political parties, as well as the volunteers who supported him during his election campaign, adding that: “I would also like to thank all the Turkish voters who voted for me.”

Chairperson of the Supreme Committee of Elections Sadi Güve announced earlier in the day that Erdogan had won the presidential race “with an absolute majority guaranteed by Article 4 of the presidential elections law, according to preliminary results.”

Güve pointed out that the committee had thus “decided at this stage, according to the preliminary results, not to print any more ballots or make any preparations for a second round of voting outside the country.”

Erdogan delivered his victory a speech on Sunday night to the nation from the balcony of his party’s headquarters in the capital of Ankara, striking a conciliatory tone.

On Sunday, Turkish voters began at 8:00 am local time (5:00 GMT) to cast their ballots to elect a new president, voting until 18:00 local time (15:00 GMT).

The number of eligible voters in Turkey amounts to nearly 53 million citizens who were able to cast their ballots in 165 different electoral stations.

Three candidates competed for the presidency: Erdogan for the ruling Justice and Development Party; Ihsanoglu for several opposition parties, most notably the two largest opposition parties, the Republican People’s Party and the Nationalist Movement Party; and Salahuddin Dmirattash for the pro-Kurdish Democratic People’s Party.

According to unofficial results released so far, Erdogan appears to have won the election with 52 per cent of the total votes.