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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the Turkish presidential election again, which brought him to power again for a third term. Even though he was predicted to lose by survey institutions. Photo/REUTERS
ANKARA – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won the second round of presidential elections (pilpres) Turki, which put him in power again for a third term. This was surprising because he was predicted to lose by various pollsters.
In the voting held on Sunday, Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) won with 52.14 percent of the vote.
Meanwhile, his rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) won 47.86 percent of the vote. The difference in the number of votes between the two reached around 2 million.
Failed Survey Institute?
A few weeks before voting for the second round of the Turkish presidential election, several pollsters predict that Erdogan will lose to Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
For example, a survey from the Konda agency predicts support for Erdoğan 43.7% and Kılıçdaroğlu 49.3%. The survey was conducted May 6-7.
Konda, which has publicly released only one opinion poll ahead of the vote, conducted face-to-face interviews with 3,480 people in 35 provincial centers. The survey is claimed to have a +/- 2.2% margin of error at a 99% confidence level.
A survey ahead of the early voting from the Metropoll institute also showed voting would go to the second round, with Kılıçdaroğlu getting 49.1% and Erdoğan 46.9%. In the second round, according to the institute, Kılıçdaroğlu won with 51.3%.
In fact, Erdogan, who was predicted to lose by pollsters, actually came out victorious.
While Erdogan celebrated his victory, analysts denounced the election as “unfair”, bemoaned the future of democracy in Turkey and predicted more strain in relations with the West.
How Erdoğan Won?
The election is widely regarded as the biggest challenge in Erdogan’s long political career. Polling stations are opening their doors to voters at a time when the country is still reeling from the devastating February 6 earthquake and the public is outraged at how Erdogan’s government has mishandled the crisis.
