Erdogan confronts polarised Turkiye after historic win

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday confronted the tough task of uniting his deeply divided country after winning a historic run-off election to extend his two-decade rule to 2028.

Turkiye´s longest-serving leader brushed aside a powerful opposition coalition, an economic crisis and anger following a devastating February earthquake to beat secular challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Sunday´s vote. But the four-point victory margin was Erdogan´s narrowest of any past election, highlighting the sharp polarisation the Islamic-rooted conservative will contend with in his final term.

Erdogan, 69, called on Turks to “come together in unity and solidarity”, whereas Kilicdaroglu vowed to “continue the struggle” against the president and his AKP party, which has dominated Turkish politics since 2002.

“God granted our wishes. Erdogan is a great leader, he has brought Turkey a long way,” Burak Durmus, 24, said in Istanbul´s conservative stronghold of Uskudar. Bugra Iyimaya, a 28-year-old academic, said the opposition would “resist and fight until the end” after Erdogan won Turkey´s first run-off.

“Our elders taught us to struggle... we will not lose or give up on this country with one election,” he told AFP. International observers led by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said media bias and restrictions to freedom of expression created “an unlevel playing field” and “an unjustified advantage” for Erdogan.

Some opposition supporters faced intimidation and harassment while both sides used “inflammatory and discriminatory language” by accusing each other of collaborating with “terrorist organisations”, exacerbating tensions, they added.

Having harnessed a coalition of nationalist, conservative and religious voters, Erdogan “will double down on his brand of populist policies... political polarisation is here to stay”, said Emre Peker of the Eurasia Group consultancy. Relieving Turks of the country´s worst economic crisis since the 1990s is an urgent priority.

Nato partners are anxiously waiting for Ankara to approve Sweden´s stalled bid to join the US-led defence alliance. Erdogan has blocked the application, accusing Stockholm of sheltering Turkish opposition figures with alleged links to outlawed Kurdish militants.

“Another five years of Erdogan means more of the geopolitical balancing act between Russia and the West,” said Galip Dalay, an associate fellow at the Chatham House think tank. “Turkiye and the West will engage in transactional cooperation wherever its interests dictate it,” not joining Western sanctions on Moscow for the war in Ukraine and seeking economically profitable relationships, Dalay added.