Turkey: Erdogan wins presidential election

There will be no second round of voting, the head of the Election Committee said. 95% of ballot papers have been counted – Erdogan has 52% of the vote. His main rival Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has 38.5%. The third candidate, Selahattin Demirtas, has 9.71%.

The turnout was 73.1%. The heat and the season of vacations have affected voters’ activity, BBC reports. The final results will be announced on Monday.

It was the first presidential election in Turkey since 1923. The Turkish President used to be appointed by the Parliament. One of the candidates had to get the absolute majority of votes to win – 50% and one vote.

Erdogan has been Turkish PM since 2003 and has been dominating in the Tusking politics since then. However, the Constitution did not allow him to stay in the position for one more term.