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Erdogan says leading in May 14 presidential election in Turkey `by clear margin’

Also, the Turkish leader said he would respect the will of his nation, if there is a runoff

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan AP Photo/Emrah Gurel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

© AP Photo/Emrah Gurel

ANKARA, May 15. /TASS/. Turkey’s incumbent leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that, according to preliminary data, he is leading in the May 14 presidential election in Turkey.

"We are confident that we can get more than 50% of votes in the first round of the election. The ballots of voters who voted abroad have yet to be counted," he said, addressing thousands of his supporters from a balcony of the building in Ankara where the ruling Justice and Development Party is headquartered.

"Although no final data is available yet, I can say that we are leading by a clear margin," Erdogan emphasized, as he called voter turnout "unprecedented." Earlier reports said the figure exceeded 85%.

The Turkish president accused the opposition of prematurely claiming the victory of their leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, as he noted that the gap between them was 2.6 million votes. Erdogan also said his alliance took the majority in the new parliament.

Kilicdaroglu called on his supporters not to leave the polling stations until all ballots are counted. Earlier, the opposition claimed that at least 10% of votes were stolen from them.

Also, the Turkish leader said he would respect the will of his nation, if there is a runoff.

According to the latest data from Turkey’s Supreme Election Council, Erdogan gets 49.49% of votes as 91.93% of ballots have been counted. His main rival Kilicdaroglu has 44.79%, while the third candidate, the leader of the ATA Alliance, Sinan Ogan, has secured the support of 5.29% of voters.

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Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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