Ankara [Turkey], May 30: Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan was re-elected for a third term, becoming the longest-serving head of state in the country.
AFP quoted President Erdogan on May 29 as calling on people "unity and unity", after winning narrowly in the second round of elections held a day earlier. According to Turkey's Supreme Electoral Council, official results showed Erdogan winning 52.1% of the vote, while his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu won 47.9% of the vote.
Policy priority
Victory on May 28 will help Erdogan sit at the helm of the country for another five years, as well as preside over activities to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of modern Turkey in October. Addressing a crowd of supporters, President Erdogan said it was time to "put aside all arguments and conflicts related to the election period and agree on the goals and dreams of the nation". CNN quoted him as saying that the priorities of the Turkish government will be to deal with inflation and heal the wounds after the February 6 earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people in the country and Syria.
President Erdogan also pledged to carry out the project to build an international gas center in Turkey as proposed earlier by Russian President Vladimir Putin . "I will further strengthen Turkey's position by investing in the transport and energy sectors, which are the basic infrastructure for world-class development," he said. .
Many congratulations
Immediately after President Erdogan won, the leaders of many countries sent congratulations. According to the Kremlin statement, Russian President Putin congratulated his Turkish counterpart and called him "dear friend". Putin expressed his desire to continue dialogue on issues on the bilateral, regional and international agenda, according to TASS. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko congratulated Erdogan on his re-election and called it a convincing victory.
On the US side, President Joe Biden expressed his desire to continue working with Turkey as a NATO member on bilateral issues and global challenges, according to Reuters. Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky congratulated Erdogan on his victory, thereby promoting "cooperation for the security and stability of Europe". Earlier, the Turkish president brokered an important deal that would allow Ukraine to ship grain through ports in the Black Sea, according to the Ukrinform news agency. French President Emmanuel Macron said France and Turkey "will continue to move forward", as the two countries share major challenges, including regaining peace in Europe. Leaders of the United Nations, NATO, the European Union (EU) and many other countries such as Germany, Sweden, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, India, China, and Pakistan... also congratulated Mr. Erdogan on his re-election. .
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper