Turkey’s presidential election will be decided in a runoff, election officials said yesterday, after incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan pulled ahead of his chief challenger, but fell short of an outright victory that would extend his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade.
The May 28 second-round vote will determine whether the strategically located NATO country remains under the president’s firm grip or can embark on a more democratic course promised by his main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
While Erdogan has governed for 20 years, opinion polls had suggested that run could be coming to an end and that a cost-of-living crisis and criticism over the government’s response to a devastating February earthquake might redraw the electoral map.
Instead, Erdogan’s retreat was still less marked than predicted — and with his alliance retaining its hold on the parliament, he is now in a good position to win in the second round.
The uncertainty drove the main Turkish stock exchange BIST-100 more than 6% lower at the open yesterday, prompting a temporary halt in trading. But shares recovered some after trading resumed, and the index was 2.5% lower in the afternoon compared to the market close Friday.
