Erdogan Extends Rule to 2019 With Vision for a New Turkey
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Recep Tayyip Erdogan fought off mass protests and graft allegations on his way to winning Turkey’s first direct presidential election. Now he’s seeking to hit back at foes as he builds what he calls a “new Turkey.”
Erdogan won 51.8 percent of the vote, enough to avoid a run-off, preliminary results show. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the former head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, who was backed by several opposition parties, won 38 percent. Selahattin Demirtas, co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish party, won 9 percent. Erdogan claimed victory yesterday from the balcony of his party headquarters in Ankara, to the cheers of thousands of supporters.