Turkey's CHP leader Kilicdaroglu says 'democracy won'

ANKARA 

Turkey's Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has said democracy is the real winner in the country's 25th parliamentary elections.

In remarks made at his party's headquarters in Ankara late Sunday, Kilicdaroglu said: "We will continue to work with the same determination. An era ended, democracy won. We ended a period of oppression with democratic ways. Democracy has won, Turkey has won."

"Long live democracy!" he added.

His party supporters lighted torches and chanted slogans "Prime Minister Kemal".

Separately, at a press conference late Sunday, CHP Vice-Chairman Haluk Koc said: "The ruling party (AK Party), which turned into an oppressive power, has been downscaled" in Sunday's election.

"The one-man regime charge has been lifted today," Koc said. "The winner of this election is democracy and Turkey. The real loser of this election is Mr. Erdogan," he added.

He also ruled out the possibility of his party making a coalition government with AK Party.

"CHP officials will discuss this later; however, Mr. Kilicdaroglu's messages and the stand of CHP is clear," he said.

According to the unofficial results, Turkey's Justice and Development (AK) Party won its fourth consecutive general election Sunday but failed to gain the majority needed to form a government on its own.

The party, which came to power in 2002 before winning elections in 2007 and 2011, secured 40.81 percent of the vote with 99.94 percent of ballots counted, giving the party 258 seats in the Grand National Assembly -- 18 short of a simple majority.

The second-placed CHP secured 25.01 percent of votes to take 132 seats while the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) gained 16.33 percent to gain 81 seats.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) passed the 10 percent threshold with 13.06 percent of the vote to take 79 seats -- the first time it will enter parliament as a party.

The turnout was 86.55 percent.