World

Turkey election: Erdogan claims victory with unofficial results

June 24, 2018 4:07 pm

Turkey’s long-standing leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan says unofficial results from the presidential elections show he has won outright in the first round.

Mr Erdogan has 53%, while his closest rival, Muharrem Ince, is on 31%, state media report, with most votes counted.

But the opposition dispute these figures, saying many votes have yet to be counted.

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Mr Erdogan also said the governing alliance of his AK Party had secured a majority in parliament.

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With 96% of the votes for parliament counted, the president’s AK Party leads with 43% of the votes, the state news agency Anadolu reports. The main opposition CHP is on 23%.

Crucially, the pro-Kurdish HDP looks set to reach the 10% threshold and enter parliament. This might have made it harder for Mr Erdogan’s party and its ally the MHP to reach a majority, although currently they are on course to do so.