*ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan declared victory in electionson Sunday, citing what he said was a public mandate for him and thealliance led by his ruling AK Party.*
Erdogan the most popular, and divisive, leader in recent Turkish history,said there would be no turning back from where he and the Islamist rootedAK Party had brought the economy.link#_>
“Our people have given us the job of carrying out the presidential andexecutive posts,” he said in a short speech from Istanbul.”
“I hope nobody will try to cast a shadow on the results and harm democracyin order to hide their own failure.”
Broadcasters had earlier reported that Erdogan had 52.8 percent of thevote, with 95.1 percent of the votes counted in the presidential election.
However, the main opposition party said it was too early to concede defeatand said it believed Erdogan could still fall short of the 50 percentneeded to avoid a runoff on July 8.
Sunday´s vote ushers in a powerful new executive presidency long sought byErdogan and backed by a small majority of Turks in a 2017 referendum.
Critics say it will further erode democracy in the NATO member state andentrench one-man rule.
An unexpectedly strong showing by the AK Party´s alliance partner, thenationalist MHP, could translate into a stable parliamentary majorityErdogan seeks to govern freely.
In early trading in Asia the lira currency firmed modestly against thedollar on the prospect of increased political stability.
Erdogan´s main presidential rival, Muharrem Ince of the main oppositionRepublican People´s Party (CHP) urged election monitors to remain atpolling stations to help ensure against possible election fraud, as finalresults came in from large cities where his party typically performsstrongly.
With 96 percent of votes counted in the presidential race, Erdogan had 53percent, comfortably ahead of Ince on 31 percent, broadcasters said.
In the parliamentary contest, the Islamist-rooted AK Party had 43 percentand its MHP ally 11 percent, based on 98 percent of votes counted,broadcasters said.
In the opposition camp, the CHP had 23 percent and the pro-Kurdish Peoples´Democratic Party (HDP) 11 percent – above the threshold it needs to reachto enter parliament.
The HDP´s presidential candidate, Selahattin Demirtas, has waged hiselection campaign from a prison near the Greek border as he awaits trial onterrorism-related charges, which he denies.
He had 7 percent, based on 90 percent of votes cast. The opposition raiseddoubts about the accuracy and reliability of the figures released bystate-run Anadolu news agency, the sole distributor of the official votetally.