Türkiye will continue being a stabilizing force in regional and global affairs at a time of instabilities, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said Monday, following a presidential runoff that saw President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reelected.
“President @RTErdogan has embraced consistency and coherence as core values in politics. In contrast, his opponent did not care about being consistent,” Altun wrote on Twitter.
“On the campaign trail, the President highlighted the importance of stability and pledged to continue his global efforts to promote justice. He reassured voters with reference to his strong track record and achievements,” he said.
According to unofficial results, incumbent Erdoğan won the race with 52.16%, while opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu received 47.84% of the vote share.
More than 64.1 million Turkish citizens were registered to vote, including over 1.92 million who earlier cast their ballots at overseas polling stations. The voter turnout was around 85% on Sunday's election.
On May 14, no candidate crossed the 50% threshold in the first round, triggering the presidential runoff, although Erdoğan took the lead with 49.52%. On that day, Erdoğan's electoral alliance also won a majority of seats in Parliament.
It was the principle of defending the rights of all citizens that guided Erdoğan’s efforts to address social issues, Altun elaborated and added, “In contrast, his opponent completely missed that point, opting for an excessively populist and ‘hyperreal’ campaign.”
“It is noteworthy that the President took extraordinary steps to stop political polarization from morphing into social polarization during the campaign,” Altun continued. “He opposed his opponents but no social group. Again, his opponent did everything in his power to transform political polarization into social polarization and to deepen that polarization. They even resorted to hate speech.”
Altun was referring to Kılıçdaroğlu's changing rhetoric following the first round of presidential and parliamentary elections in Türkiye on May 14.
Kılıçdaroğlu, the soft-spoken joint candidate of a six-party opposition alliance, had led a highly positive and unifying campaign. Many of the rallies of his pro-secular main opposition party Republican People's Party (CHP) had ended with Kılıçdaroğlu gesturing the heart shape with his hands.
Following the first round of elections, however, the 74-year-old politician hardened his rhetoric in an apparent effort to appeal to nationalist voters, including those who voted for a third candidate, nationalist politician Sinan Oğan.
