On May 29, after winning a narrow victory in the second round of Türkiye's presidential election, Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a speech to his supporters in Ankara.
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| Mr. Erdogan was re-elected as President of Türkiye after a dramatic second round of elections on May 28. (Source: Reuters) |
Stressing that the election was the "most important" event for Türkiye in the modern era, Mr. Erdogan called: "We should come together and unite. I call this with all my heart... Today... the whole country of 85 million people won."
The leader also pledged to "further strengthen the country's position by investing in the transport and energy sectors, which are the basic infrastructure for world-class development".
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory message, mentioning the project to build an international gas hub in Thrace, northwestern Türkiye, near the border with Bulgaria. Mr. Erdogan emphasized that Ankara will implement this project with Moscow and Thrace will become such a hub.
Also in Mr. Putin's message, the leader "highly appreciated Mr. Erdogan's personal contribution" to the development of Russian-Turkish friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields.
Moscow also reaffirmed its readiness to continue constructive dialogue on current issues on the bilateral, regional and international agenda.
Besides Russia, leaders of many countries and international organizations also sent congratulations to Mr. Erdogan on his re-election.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on Twitter: "We look forward to further strengthening our strategic partnership for the benefit of our two countries, as well as strengthening cooperation for the security and stability of Europe."
* British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also congratulated Mr. Erdogan, while emphasizing the current security cooperation between the two countries.
On Twitter, the British leader expressed his desire to continue to strengthen cooperation between the UK and Türkiye, from developing trade to addressing security threats as allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
* Also writing on Twitter, US President Joe Biden stated: "I look forward to continuing to work with Mr. Erdogan as NATO allies on bilateral issues and shared global challenges."
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent his congratulations to President Erdogan and called Türkiye "a valued ally and partner in NATO".
* The European Union ( EU ) and NATO , two organizations with which President Erdogan has repeatedly clashed, also congratulated him on his re-election.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter: "I look forward to continuing to build on the EU-Türkiye relationship. It is of strategic importance for both the EU and Türkiye to work to promote this relationship, in the interests of our peoples."
* According to spokesman Stephane Dujarric of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the leader congratulated Mr. Erdogan on his re-election and wished to further strengthen cooperation between this international organization and Turkey.
Early morning on May 29 (Vietnam time), the Supreme Election Council of Türkiye announced that with 99.43% of the votes counted, incumbent President Erdogan won with 52.14% of the votes, while his opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu won 47.68% of the votes.
Speaking after the Turkish election results, Mr. Kilicdaroglu expressed gratitude to all the more than 25 million votes of his supporters, and called on voters: "Continue to fight for democracy... I fought for it, I fought for you and will continue to do so in the future."
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