PRIME Minister Anwar Ibrahim has joined other world leaders in congratulating Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for winning a historic run-off election yesterday, the toughest challenge of his political career. 

Anwar expressed Malaysia’s eagerness to collaborate closely with Turkey to further strengthen their already good bilateral relations.

“Congratulations to H.E. President Erdogan for being elected as the 13th president of Turkey in the recent election. 

“Turkey will continue to play a constructive role as an important regional and global player,” tweeted Anwar, who shares strong ties with Erdogan.

The chairman of Turkey’s Supreme Election Council , Ahmet Yener announced Erdogan’s re-election as Turkey’s president in the run-off election yesterday. 

Ahmet reportedly said Erdogan won the Turkish presidency, beating opposition challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the second-round run-off vote.   

According to unofficial results, the Turkish incumbent won the race with 52.14%, while Kilicdaroglu got 47.86% of the votes, he said. Some 99.43% of the ballot boxes have been opened so far. 

In the first round of voting on May 14, Erdogan secured a nearly five-point lead over Kilicdaroglu but fell short of the 50% threshold needed to win. 

The president’s bloc won a majority of seats in the parliamentary race on the same day. – Bernama, May 29, 2023.