Since no candidate won more than 50% of the first round in Turkey’s presidential election on 14 May, a second round runoff was held between the two leading candidates on 28 May.
The incumbent president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who polled 49.5% in the first round, was standing for the AK party and its allies. He has been at the pinnacle of Turkish politics for 20 years, first as prime minister and then as president. Since becoming president he has brought through constitutional changes to vastly increase the power of the office. Erdoğan has also moved away from the strict secularist foundations of the Turkish republic, in favour of policies more in tune with Islam-friendly conservatism.
His opponent in the runoff was Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the unity candidate of six opposition parties, who polled 44.9% in the first round. Kılıçdaroğlu had promised to reverse some of Erdogan’s constitutional innovations.
A would-be kingmaker in the second round was Sinan Oğan, a rightwing candidate who gained 5.2% in the first round; seemingly inconsequential, but enough to tip the scales in favour of either of the leading pair. His major policy position was opposition to the continued presence in Turkey of refugees from regional conflicts, notably Syria.
Reported results from Turkish elections are often controversial; early results from rural areas usually favour Erdoğan and other conservatives, while the more populous big cities that lean toward secularists and reformists usually declare late. But the official election authority, the YSK, has confirmed the final result will not now change.
