AFP: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday 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.
Turkey’s longest-serving leader brushed aside a powerful opposition coalition, a biting economic crisis and widespread 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 during his third and final term as president. Erdogan attempted to sound conciliatory in a victory speech to thousands of jubilant supporters gathered outside Ankara’s presidential palace, calling on Turks to “come together in unity and solidarity”.