EU Watch | Turkish Shadow Play in ElectionsMavi Boncuk |Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan swept to a landslide victory in Turkey's first direct presidential election, extending his 12-year grip on power and securing a mandate to fulfill his pledge of creating a "new Turkey."
The country's election board announced Mr. Erdogan had won according to preliminary results, obtaining enough votes to avoid a runoff. With 99% of the ballots counted, the premier had secured 52%, far ahead of his nearest opponent Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, a diplomat with a low profile in domestic politics who garnered 38% of the vote, according to state-run Anadolu news agency.