{"id":146179,"date":"2018-06-25T12:23:46","date_gmt":"2018-06-25T12:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/turkey-election-erdogan-win-ushers-in-new-presidential-era\/"},"modified":"2018-06-25T12:23:46","modified_gmt":"2018-06-25T12:23:46","slug":"turkey-election-erdogan-win-ushers-in-new-presidential-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/turkey-election-erdogan-win-ushers-in-new-presidential-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey election: Erdogan win ushers in new presidential era"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p06c1rkr.jpg\"\/>Media playback is unsupported on your device<figcaption>Media captionPresident Erdogan thanks voters for &quot;love&quot;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"caps\">Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking on extensive new executive powers following his outright election victory in Sunday&#039;s poll.<\/p>\n<p>Parliament has been weakened and the post of prime minister abolished, as measures approved in a controversial referendum last year take effect.<\/p>\n<p>Defeated opposition candidate Muharrem Ince said Turkey was now entering a dangerous period of &quot;one-man rule&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Erdogan polled nearly 53% in the most fiercely fought election in years.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Ince received just 31%, despite a lively campaign attracting huge crowds.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Erdogan has presided over a strong economy and built up a solid support base by investing in healthcare, education and infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>But the 64-year-old has also polarised opinion, cracking down on opponents and putting some 160,000 people in jail.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Election splits Turkey&#039;s heart in two<\/li>\n<li>Erdogan&#039;s victory in 100 and 500 words<\/li>\n<li>How powerful will Erdogan be?<\/li>\n<li>Erdogan: Turkey&#039;s pugnacious president<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Congratulations have come in from around the world, though some Western leaders have been slow to react. Russian President Vladimir Putin talked of Mr Erdogan&#039;s &quot;great political authority and mass support&quot;.<\/p>\n<h2>What do the new powers mean?<\/h2>\n<p>In his victory speech to supporters early on Monday morning, Mr Erdogan vowed to bring the new presidential system into being &quot;rapidly&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>The constitutional changes were endorsed in a tight referendum last year by 51% of voters.<\/p>\n<p>They include giving the president new powers to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>directly appoint top public officials, including ministers and vice-presidents<\/li>\n<li>intervene in the country&#039;s legal system<\/li>\n<li>impose a state of emergency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  Getty Images<figcaption>Image caption                                      Supporters of Erdogan and the AK Party took to Istanbul&#039;s streets to celebrate                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Some critics argue that Turkey&#039;s new system lacks the checks and balances of other executive presidencies like France or the US.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Erdogan maintains his increased authority will empower him to address Turkey&#039;s economic woes and defeat Kurdish rebels in the country&#039;s south-east.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Turks abroad play decisive role in Erdogan vote<\/li>\n<li>Reality Check: The numbers behind Turkey&#039;s crackdown<\/li>\n<li>Losing their religion: The young Turks rejecting Islam<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Mr Erdogan was prime minister for 11 years before becoming president in 2014. Under the new constitution, he could stand for a third term when his second finishes in 2023, meaning he could potentially hold power until 2028.<\/p>\n<h2>&#039;Progressive values are still here&#039;<\/h2>\n<p><strong>By Mark Lowen, BBC Turkey correspondent<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Despite 90% of the media being pro-government and largely shunning the opposition, the president&#039;s posters and flags dwarfing any challenge on the streets, the election being held under a state of emergency curtailing protests, and critical journalists and academics being jailed or forced into exile, Mr Erdogan only got half of the country behind him. <\/p>\n<p>&quot;We are living through a fascist regime&quot;, the opposition MP Selin Sayek Boke told the BBC. &quot;But fascist regimes don&#039;t usually win elections with 53%, they win with 90%. So this shows that progressive values are still here and can rise up.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>For now, though, this is Mr Erdogan&#039;s time. With his sweeping new powers, scrapping the post of prime minister and able to choose ministers and most senior judges, he becomes Turkey&#039;s most powerful leader since its founding father Ataturk. <\/p>\n<p>He&#039;ll now hope to lead the country at least until 2023, a hundred years since Ataturk&#039;s creation. And a dejected opposition will have to pick itself up and wonder again if, and how, he can be beaten.  <\/p>\n<p>Read more from Mark<\/p>\n<h2>How did the opposition react?<\/h2>\n<p>Mr Ince, from the Republican People&#039;s Party (CHP), said the election was unfair from its declaration to the announcement of the results.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;The new regime that takes effect from today is a major danger for Turkey... We have now fully adopted a regime of one-man rule,&quot; he told journalists at a post-election news conference.<\/p>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  EPA<figcaption>Image caption                                      Mr Ince said he would continue his fight until Turkey was for everyone                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But he said that there was no significant difference between official results and his party&#039;s figures, and therefore he would accept the outcome.<\/p>\n<p>There were another four candidates on the presidential ballot, all of whom fell below 10% of the vote.<\/p>\n<h2>How was the election conducted?<\/h2>\n<p>Security was tight at polling stations. Ahead of the vote, concerns had been raised about potential voter intimidation and electoral fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Voter turnout was high at almost 87%, the state broadcaster reported.<\/p>\n<p>Rights activists have said the press is not free to report on all sides in Turkey. It has become the world&#039;s biggest jailer of journalists under Mr Erdogan&#039;s rule, according to monitoring groups.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Erdogan has already cautioned his rivals against claiming foul play, saying: &quot;I hope nobody will try to cast a shadow on the results and harm democracy in order to hide their own failure.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>In separate parliamentary elections, the governing alliance led by Mr Erdogan&#039;s AK Party (AKP) secured a majority, with 53% and about 343 seats. <\/p>\n<p>The opposition CHP and its allies won only 33% (190 seats). However, the pro-Kurdish HDP re-entered parliament with 67 seats.<\/p>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  AFP<figcaption>Image caption                                      Kurds in Diyarbakir celebrated the HDP&#039;s result                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The party&#039;s success comes despite the fact its presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtas is in a high-security prison on terror charges, which he firmly denies.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>WATCH: Why the Kurdish vote was key<\/li>\n<li>The full story: Life under President Erdogan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The biggest issue for voters was the economy. The Turkish lira has tanked and inflation stands at about 11%, though the economy has grown substantially in recent years. <\/p>\n<p>The currency has suffered as Mr Erdogan has pressed the central bank not to raise interest rates and suggested before the poll that he might restrict its independence. <\/p>\n<p>Terrorism was another key issue, as Turkey faces attacks from Kurdish militants and the jihadists of the Islamic State group. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Turkey&#039;s brain drain: Crackdown pushes intellectuals out<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Mr Erdogan&#039;s rivals accused him of damaging civil liberties in Turkey and spearheading a slide into authoritarian rule.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey has been under a state of emergency since a failed coup in July 2016, with 107,000 public servants and soldiers dismissed from their jobs. More than 50,000 people have been imprisoned pending trial since the uprising.<\/p>\n<p>              The best way to get news on the go<br \/>Download the BBC News App.                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/news.files.bbci.co.uk\/include\/newsspec\/19854\/assets\/app-project-assets\/bbc_news_logo.svg\"\/>                                       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/news.files.bbci.co.uk\/include\/newsspec\/19854\/assets\/app-project-assets\/google_play_store.svg\"\/>                              <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/news.files.bbci.co.uk\/include\/newsspec\/19854\/assets\/app-project-assets\/ios_app_store.svg\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Media playback is unsupported on your deviceMedia captionPresident Erdogan thanks voters for &quot;love&quot; Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking on extensive new executive powers following his outright election victory<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}