Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, has won another term as leader, after emerging victorious in a run-off vote on Sunday.
Erdogan secured 52.1% of the vote, while his rival, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, managed 47.8%. The run-off was necessary as no candidate had won more than 50% of the vote in the first round, held two weeks ago.
This year marks Erdogan’s 20th year in power, having become Prime Minister of the country in 2003. He became President in 2014, after constitutional reforms which abolished the post of Prime Minister, and made the President an executive position, rather than a ceremonial one.
Many observers believed that this was the Turkish opposition’s best chance in years to wrestle power from Erdogan, with the country’s economy doing poorly and inflation almost reaching 100%. This is primarily because of the unorthodox economic policies implemented by Erdogan, such as keeping interest rates low in an attempt to tackle inflation.
Turkey has also become more authoritarian under Erdogan and this is now likely to continue following his win on Sunday.
[Image: Gerd Altmann by Pixabay]