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Erdogan gets 49.35% of vote, Kilicdaroglu gains 45% with 100% ballot boxes counted — TV

Voter turnout reached a record high of 88.84%

© AP Photo/Ali Unal

ANKARA, May 15. /TASS/. Incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan got 49.35% of the vote with 100% of ballot boxes counted in Sunday’s presidential election, while main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu gained 45%, the state-run TRT TV channel reported on Monday.

The third presidential candidate, Sinan Ogan of the ATA Alliance, received 5.22% of the vote. Muharrem Ince, who had pulled out of the race, garnered 0.43%. Turkey’s election authority considers the votes that he received to be valid.

The election authority rejected over one million votes as invalid. Voter turnout reached a record high of 88.84%.

A presidential candidate needed to gain 50% plus one vote to win in the first round. A run-off is expected to be held between the top two contenders on May 28.

With 99.99% of ballots counted, the People’s Alliance led by Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party received 321 seats in the 600-seat parliament. The Justice and Development Party can expect to get 266 seats, with its allied Nationalist Movement Party gaining 50 seats and the New Welfare Party garnering five.

The opposition alliance has received 213 seats in parliament, with Kilicdargoglu’s Republican People's Party taking 169 seats, the Good Party gaining 44. Candidates representing the other four parties in the alliance were included in the Republican People's Party’s lists and will also enter parliament. The Labor and Freedom Alliance, whose lists included candidates from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, can expect to get 66 seats. Another two election alliances - the ATA Alliance and the Union of Socialist Forces - have failed to enter parliament.

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