European media gives extensive coverage to Sunday's Turkish elections

ANKARA

European media gave extensive coverage to Sunday’s landmark presidential and general elections in Türkiye.

Many media outlets stressed the high turnout and added that incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the lead in the first round of the presidential vote.

"Erdogan leads the way into the 2nd-round clash as rival disappoints in Turkish election," the website Politico.eu said on Sunday evening.

"Erdogan leads as Turkey heads for election run-off," the BBC said, while The Economist magazine – which criticized Erdogan before the first round – said he "confounds predictions in Turkey’s election."

"Turkey election goes to runoff after Erdoğan takes first-round lead," Britain’s The Guardian said, also noting the high turnout.

In France, many dailies and broadcasters including France 24, 20 Minutes, and La Croix evaluated the first round and noted that Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AK Party) won a majority in parliament.

German media including Der Spiegel magazine and the dailies Bild, Die Welt, and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung stressed that there will be a second round.

Media outlets from other countries such as the Netherlands, Austria, Bulgaria, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, and Italy also highlighted the possibility of a second round, explaining that Erdogan's party won a parliamentary majority.

Dailies and broadcasters from the Balkans and Baltic countries emphasized that a second round will be held and compared Erdogan and his main rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Domestic voter turnout in the elections was 88.92% with turnout abroad of 52.69%, Supreme Election Council head Ahmet Yener announced on Monday.

Millions of voters went to the polls Sunday to elect the country's president and members of its 600-seat parliament.

On the presidential ballot, voters chose between incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan representing the People's Alliance, Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and joint candidate for the six-party opposition Nation Alliance, and Sinan Ogan of the ATA (Ancestral) Alliance.

As of Monday afternoon, Erdogan had 49.5% of the vote, with Kilicdaroglu behind at 44.89%, according to official results.

The counting process has not been completed yet.