​Final Post: Erdogan and AKP-MHP win, unofficially speaking

TURKEY - In Brief 24 Jun 2018 by Atilla Yesilada

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I must stop my coverage before the final drama starts to be able to serve my audience fresh and early tomorrow. Despite its promises beforehand, at 12:15 midnight, the High Election Council is yet to announce the preliminary results of the elections. This minor detail has not stopped Erdogan from giving an acceptance speech. He is currently en route to Ankara to give a balcony speech. The opposition is silent pending the HEC announcement. Unofficially, Erdogan scored 52.5% of the national vote to clinch another term at the presidency, while AKP and MHP won 290 and 50 seats each in the Grand assembly, the figures being approximations. Pro-Kurdish HDP is shown with 65 seats. As I write these lines, I’m watching live broadcast of huge queues in front of borough election offices to deliver sealed sacks of counted votes. Hence, I can’t quite understand how Anatolian Agency can call the elections finished. On the other hand, the Fair election website which is a joint venture between main opposition party CHP and several NGOs is now on line, showing Erdogan in the lead with 52.5% of the national vote and 96% of the vote reported to its office. I religiously embrace the principle of “innocent ‘til proven guilty”, and despite Erdogan’s rash victory speech and the suspicious delay in the HEC certification of results, I can’t find compelling evidence of fraud. I will review the opposition statements and the commentary from sources I believe to be impartial to form a final judgment, but I believe this was an election as fair as it gets in Turkey, with Erdogan and AKP-MHP won by the sweat of their brows. What they will do with the victory and whether the temporary pause to the elec...