Dildar Baykan Atalay
29 May 2023•Update: 29 May 2023
ANKARA
At a major Muslim American gathering, the Muslim community in the US congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his historic reelection to the nation’s presidency.
Hasan Murat Mercan, Ankara’s ambassador to Washington, was invited to the stage on Sunday at the 48th Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) convention in Baltimore, Maryland, north of Washington, DC, after word came of Erdogan’s win.
"I was very happy to be invited to the stage over the reelection of our president at the annual meeting of ICNA, which was attended by tens of thousands of people. I sincerely congratulate our president,” Mercan said on Twitter on Monday, also sharing a video of the conference.
"Erdogan won the election and we celebrate that,” the convention's host also said in a video.
At the event, Mercan was recognized for "outstanding community services.”
The Turkish Embassy in Washington said the annual conference, which drew 30,000 people and concludes today, provides an opportunity to address the problems American Muslims face today.
According to unofficial results, President Erdogan won the race with 52.16% of the vote, while opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu got 47.84%.
More than 64.1 million Turkish citizens were registered to vote, including over 1.92 million who cast their ballots at overseas polling stations. Domestic voter turnout in Sunday’s election was 85.71%.
On May 14, no candidate crossed the 50% threshold in the first round, triggering the presidential runoff, although Erdogan took the lead with 49.52%. On that day, Erdogan’s electoral alliance also won a majority of seats in parliament.
*Writing by Gozde Bayar
