The election in Turkey

Erdogan earlier on Sunday/ Erdogan AP 

 

The election in Turkey   

President Erdogan declares election victory: "Love never ends - goodbye Kemal"  

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declares himself victorious in the Turkish election. 

 

- The people have given us a mandate to govern for five more years, he says in a speech to his supporters. 

 

Erdogan began the speech by singing and saying that he will be with the Turkish people "to the grave". 

 

- Even before the election, I said that our love does not end here, he says and adds: 

 

- Hello Kemal.  

 

When 98 percent of the votes have been counted in Sunday's second round of the presidential election, Erdogan preliminarily receives just over 52 percent of the votes, against barely 48 for the challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, according to the state news agency Anadolu. 

 

The election win means that Erdogan, who has already been in power for 20 years, gets to sit for another five years.  

 

The official vote count is still ongoing.  

 

Russian President Putin. Mikhail Klimentyev / AP  

 

Votes on the Turkish election 

 

Putin congratulates Erdogan on victory: "Has strengthened Russian-Turkish relations"  

 

After Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared himself victorious in the Turkish presidential election, he was congratulated by Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

 

In a message to Erdogan, Putin praised Erdogan's "personal contribution" to strengthening the Russian-Turkish relationship, writes Reuters. 

 

Several other international leaders have also sent their congratulations to the Turkish president.  

 

"Congratulations on President Erdogan's indisputable election victory," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán writes on Twitter.  

 

The emir of Qatar and the prime ministers of Libya and Palestine have also sent greetings to Erdogan, who now looks set to have another five years in power.  

 

The official election results had not been determined at 9 p.m. on Sunday evening.

 

CHP headquarters in Istanbul. Valeria Ferraro / AP  

Votes on the Turkish election  

The opposition's dream came crashing down: "We have no hope"  

Dark clouds hung over Istanbul on election day, and among opposition election observers a heavy silence fell early in the evening, AFP reports.  

At the same time as the first official figures began to point to an election victory for President Erdogan, the first raindrops fell.  

In the Kurdish-dominated city of Diyarbakir, housewife Fahriye Kacmaz expressed pessimism even before the results started trickling in.  

- We have no expectations. We have no hope, everything is pointless, the 30-year-old told the news agency.  

The contrast is sharp with the atmosphere at the presidential palace in Ankara. Happy music poured out of speakers on Sunday night. Excited AKP supporters waved Turkish flags and cars honked their horns.

- The people chose the right man, says 17-year-old Nisa Sivaslio