New Turkish govt faces challenges

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AK Party claimed victory in Turkey's presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday.

Erdogan had 52.5 percent, with 98 percent of the votes counted in his bid for a presidency with broadly expanded powers, according to state-run Anadolu Agency's unofficial results.

In his first statement on Sunday evening, Erdogan declared victory, pledging a new era with a strengthened democracy and economy under the new governing system.

"According to unofficial results, the outcome of the elections is clear. The nation has entrusted me with the role of presidency and executive power," Erdogan, 64, said in his residence in Istanbul.

"In the same way, a big responsibility was given on the shoulders of the People's Alliance and of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) at the parliament as it gets majority," he said.

His closest challenger Muharrem Ince of the main opposition, secularist Republican People's Party (CHP), received nearly 30 percent of the votes.

The jailed candidate Selahattin Demirtas of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) got around 8.3 percent, while Meral Aksener, the only female presidential candidate in the race, had 7.4 percent of votes.

The turnout was high at around 87 percent for both contests, with more than 59 million votes running to the polls.

Turkey held Sunday's elections under a state of emergency declared after a failed military coup in July 2016.

CHP party spokesman Bulent Tezcan, however, challenged the election results provided by the Anadolu Agency, saying the party would continue working through the night to monitor the counting of the votes.

Sunday's vote ushers in a powerful new executive presidency long sought by Erdogan and backed by a small majority of Turks in a 2017 referendum.

Erdogan's victory paves the way for another five-year term. Under the new constitution, he could serve a further term from 2023, taking him to 2028.

The new administration in Turkey will face a tough agenda filled with problems waiting to be solved, analysts said.

"First of all, a severe economic crisis will be waiting for us," said Yusuf Kanli, a columnist with the Hurriyet Daily News.

"Obviously, irrespective of who wins the elections, the faltering economy and suffocating Turkish lira ought to be the priorities of the administration," Kanli said.

The rising cost of basic food, fluctuations in the exchange rates with a large amount of foreign debt at hand have already hurt the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), he noted.

The price of potatoes and onions soared by 94 percent and more than 200 percent respectively in the past month.

Turkey's currency has recorded a loss of 25 percent against the US dollar since the beginning of this year, while the Turkish Central Bank raised the policy rate by over 10 percentage points to 18.75 percent in a bid to curb the decline.

Cahit Armagan Dilek, head of the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute, noted that "it will not be possible to solve other problems as long as you cannot revive the economy and act on it".

Dilek said the current state of the economy indicates that the problem cannot be solved without external support.

"For this reason, a new standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund appears inevitable," he continued.

According to the recent data, Turkey's foreign trade deficit rose to nearly $77 billion last year.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek has recently said if Erdogan's re-election is confirmed with the strong dominance of the AKP in the parliament, they will speed up economic and financial reforms.

The Nation Alliance, established by main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Good Party and Felicity Party, also announced its post-election road map.

Xinhua - Reuters