News
Latest News
news bulletin
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Other News
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Beirut
31
o
Mount Lebanon
33
o
Metn
31
o
Keserwan
31
o
North
31
o
South
31
o
Bekaa
26
o
Live
Video
Audio
Schedule
shows
العربية
watching now
Late Night News
SUBSCRIBE
Home
Notification
Live
Video
Audio
shows
Beirut
31
o
Mount Lebanon
33
o
Metn
31
o
Keserwan
31
o
North
31
o
South
31
o
Bekaa
26
o
News
Programs
The News
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Programs
Documentaries
Lebanon’s Centennial
News Bulletin
The Untold History
Talk Show
Series
Sports
Variety
Other
Comedy
Oldies
Breaking News
Latest News
Highlighted News
Most Read
Videos
العربية
Watch the latest programs and the latest developments on your favorite screen
Shows
Join millions of followers
Who We Are
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Careers
Channel frequencies
Privacy Policy
Terms and Conditions
REPORT: Erdogan, ruling AK Party build comfortable lead in Turkish elections
Breaking Headlines
2018-06-24 | 03:11
High views
Share
Share
REPORT: Erdogan, ruling AK Party build comfortable lead in Turkish elections
Watch now
More details about online video viewing packages
5
min
REPORT: Erdogan, ruling AK Party build comfortable lead in Turkish elections
Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AK Party took a comfortable lead in Turkey's presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday, according to preliminary partial results, boosting the president's hopes of extending his 15-year rule.
The initial results had been expected to give Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted party a strong lead and it was expected to shorten as more votes are tallied across the nation of 81 million people.
But an AK Party official said the party expected Erdogan to win more than the required 50 percent to avoid a second round runoff. An unexpectedly strong showing by the AK Party's alliance partner, the nationalist MHP, could also mean Erdogan securing the parliamentary majority he seeks to govern freely.
Sunday's vote ushers in a powerful new executive presidency long sought by Erdogan and backed by a small majority of Turks in a 2017 referendum. Critics say it will further erode democracy in the NATO member state and entrench one-man rule.
With 70 percent of votes counted in the presidential race, Erdogan had 55 percent, ahead of his closest rival, Muharrem Ince, of the main opposition, secularist Republican People's Party (CHP), on 29 percent, broadcasters said.
However, an opposition election platform which is doing its own vote tally based on results gathered by its observers at polling stations gave Erdogan only 43.5 percent and Ince 33.9 percent, based on nearly 12 percent of overall votes cast.
In the parliamentary contest, the AK Party had 45 percent and its MHP ally nearly 12 percent, based on 61 percent of votes counted, broadcasters said. The CHP had 21 percent and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) 9.7 percent.
Both the AK Party official and an HDP lawmaker said they expected the HDP to exceed the 10 percent threshold to enter parliament.
Turnout nationwide was high at around 87 percent for both contests, the state broadcaster said.
FRAUD FEARS
CHP party spokesman Bulent Tezcan criticized state media coverage of the election results, saying they were trying to manipulate the public's perception of the results in order to demoralize Erdogan's opponents and encourage election monitors to stop scrutinizing the counting of votes.
Tezcan said the CHP's own voting tally suggested that support for Erdogan remained below the 50 percent required to win the presidency in the first round.
Opposition parties and NGOs have deployed up to half a million monitors at ballot boxes to ward against possible electoral fraud. They have said election law changes and fraud allegations in the 2017 referendum raise fears about the fairness of Sunday's elections.
Erdogan said there had been no serious voting violations.
"Turkey is staging a democratic revolution," he told reporters after casting his own vote in Istanbul on Sunday.
"With the presidential system, Turkey is seriously raising the bar, rising above the level of contemporary civilizations."
Erdogan, the most popular but also divisive leader in modern Turkish history, argues the new powers will better enable him to tackle the nation's economic problems - the lira has lost 20 percent against the dollar this year - and crush Kurdish rebels in southeast Turkey and in neighboring Iraq and Syria.
Investors would welcome the prospect of a stable working relationship between the president and the new parliament, although they also have concerns about Erdogan's recent comments suggesting he wants to take greater control of monetary policy.
Erdogan has declared himself an "enemy of interest rates", raising fears he will pressure the central bank to cut borrowing costs after the election despite double-digit inflation.
He brought forward the elections from November 2019, but he reckoned without Ince, a former physics teacher and veteran CHP lawmaker, whose feisty performance at campaign rallies has galvanized Turkey's long-demoralized and divided opposition.
Turkey held Sunday's elections under a state of emergency declared after a failed military coup in July 2016. This state restricts some freedoms and allows the government to bypass parliament with decrees. Both Erdogan and Ince have said they will lift the state of emergency as president.
Erdogan blamed the coup on his former ally, U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, and has waged a sweeping crackdown on his followers in Turkey, detaining some 160,000 people, according to the United Nations.
The president's critics, including the European Union which Turkey still nominally aspires to join, say Erdogan has used the crackdown to stifle dissent.
Erdogan says his tough measures are needed to safeguard national security.
REUTERS
To watch the full report, please click on the video above.
Breaking Headlines
Turkey
Parliament
Erdogan
Next
Grand Mufti Derian travels to Saudi Arabia for Hajj
Recommended For You
d-none hideMe
0
Middle East News
02:10
Over 430 settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque on third day of Passover holiday: Al Jazeera reports
Middle East News
02:10
Over 430 settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque on third day of Passover holiday: Al Jazeera reports
0
Lebanon News
2024-04-23
Hezbollah announces launching 'dozens of rockets' at Israel in response to civilian deaths
Lebanon News
2024-04-23
Hezbollah announces launching 'dozens of rockets' at Israel in response to civilian deaths
0
Lebanon News
2024-04-21
Breaking: Israeli airstrike hits Naqoura, reports NNA
Lebanon News
2024-04-21
Breaking: Israeli airstrike hits Naqoura, reports NNA
0
Lebanon News
2024-04-21
Shelling from Lebanon hits Western Galilee: Israeli Channel 12 reports
Lebanon News
2024-04-21
Shelling from Lebanon hits Western Galilee: Israeli Channel 12 reports
Subscribe to our VOD
SUBSCRIBE
Our visitors readings
d-none hideMe
0
Lebanon News
07:00
Hezbollah refutes Israel's claim of killing half of its leaders in southern Lebanon
Lebanon News
07:00
Hezbollah refutes Israel's claim of killing half of its leaders in southern Lebanon
0
Press Highlights
2023-12-05
French intelligence director in Beirut with five other officials
Press Highlights
2023-12-05
French intelligence director in Beirut with five other officials
0
News Bulletin Reports
2023-11-16
Behind the Veil of Secrecy: The Israeli Skin Bank and Controversies Surrounding Organ Harvesting
News Bulletin Reports
2023-11-16
Behind the Veil of Secrecy: The Israeli Skin Bank and Controversies Surrounding Organ Harvesting
0
Israel-Gaza War Updates
00:30
Israeli army awaits 'green light' from Netanyahu to invade Rafah
Israel-Gaza War Updates
00:30
Israeli army awaits 'green light' from Netanyahu to invade Rafah
Videos
d-none hideMe
0
Lebanon News
2023-12-11
Breaking: Israel launches raid north of Litani on Monday (Video)
Lebanon News
2023-12-11
Breaking: Israel launches raid north of Litani on Monday (Video)
0
Lebanon News
2023-11-02
Exclusive to LBCI: U.S. State Department's Wooster Stresses Lebanon Must Avoid War, Sees Renewed Push for Two-State Solution
Lebanon News
2023-11-02
Exclusive to LBCI: U.S. State Department's Wooster Stresses Lebanon Must Avoid War, Sees Renewed Push for Two-State Solution
0
Lebanon News
2023-10-18
Protests Erupt near US Embassy in Awkar Against Israeli Attacks on Al-Maamadani Hospital in Gaza
Lebanon News
2023-10-18
Protests Erupt near US Embassy in Awkar Against Israeli Attacks on Al-Maamadani Hospital in Gaza
0
Lebanon News
2023-10-05
ATFL's Ambassador Edward Gabriel on Navigating Through Economic, Political, and Refugee Crises
Lebanon News
2023-10-05
ATFL's Ambassador Edward Gabriel on Navigating Through Economic, Political, and Refugee Crises
0
Sports News
2023-08-31
Amir Saoud Powers Lebanon to Victory Over Cote d'Ivoire: A Deep Dive Into The Numbers
Sports News
2023-08-31
Amir Saoud Powers Lebanon to Victory Over Cote d'Ivoire: A Deep Dive Into The Numbers
0
Sports News
2023-08-29
France Edges Past Lebanon in a Nail-Biter at FIBA World Cup 2023: A Statistical Deep Dive
Sports News
2023-08-29
France Edges Past Lebanon in a Nail-Biter at FIBA World Cup 2023: A Statistical Deep Dive
0
Lebanon News
2019-02-28
Pierre el-Daher, the man who defeated the Lebanese Forces
Lebanon News
2019-02-28
Pierre el-Daher, the man who defeated the Lebanese Forces
Most read
d-none hideMe
24 hours
7 days
Month
1
Lebanon News
02:55
Ethiopian Airlines plane lands in Beirut with 'Tel Aviv' marking: Civil Aviation Directorate
Lebanon News
02:55
Ethiopian Airlines plane lands in Beirut with 'Tel Aviv' marking: Civil Aviation Directorate
2
Lebanon News
05:17
Breaking: Lebanese Parliament approves one-year postponement for municipal and mukhtars elections
Lebanon News
05:17
Breaking: Lebanese Parliament approves one-year postponement for municipal and mukhtars elections
3
Lebanon News
03:12
Israeli drone strikes Douris plain in Baalbek: Driver injured
Lebanon News
03:12
Israeli drone strikes Douris plain in Baalbek: Driver injured
4
Lebanon News
02:34
Israeli strike hits Iaat plain in Baalbek: Thursday update
Lebanon News
02:34
Israeli strike hits Iaat plain in Baalbek: Thursday update
5
Israel-Gaza War Updates
00:30
Israeli army awaits 'green light' from Netanyahu to invade Rafah
Israel-Gaza War Updates
00:30
Israeli army awaits 'green light' from Netanyahu to invade Rafah
6
Lebanon News
07:00
Hezbollah refutes Israel's claim of killing half of its leaders in southern Lebanon
Lebanon News
07:00
Hezbollah refutes Israel's claim of killing half of its leaders in southern Lebanon
7
Middle East News
02:10
Over 430 settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque on third day of Passover holiday: Al Jazeera reports
Middle East News
02:10
Over 430 settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque on third day of Passover holiday: Al Jazeera reports
8
Lebanon News
11:01
Mikati discusses preparations for French Foreign Minister's visit with Magro, reviews monetary situation with Mansouri
Lebanon News
11:01
Mikati discusses preparations for French Foreign Minister's visit with Magro, reviews monetary situation with Mansouri
Download now the LBCI mobile app
To see the latest news, the latest daily programs in Lebanon and the world
Google Play
App Store
We use
cookies
We use
cookies
to make
your experience on this
website better.
Accept
Learn More