ANKARA, May 16. /TASS/. The presidential runoff vote will be much easier for Turkey’s incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and he will get over 50% of the vote, Ibrahim Kalin, official Turkish presidential spokesman, told the A Haber TV channel.
"The second round will be a breeze for us. Abroad, the participation in the election was at a level of 53%. I think the same thing will happen now. Taking everything into account, the support for our president will amount to more than 50%. The difference in votes following the first round is quite pronounced. It’s 5% or 2.5 mln votes. It is unlikely to get smaller," the official said.
Kalin reiterated that the debate is on about who will receive the votes of Sinan Ogan, who garnered 5.17%. "The debates continue and we are monitoring them. It would be a mistake to assume that the whole percentage will go to only one candidate. So far, we have not yet held any meetings with Ogan. We know that his stance is closer to our alliance. I cannot say that there will be no meeting with Ogan in the future.
Erdogan’s press secretary also criticized the media of some foreign countries for "not being engaged in journalism but clearly taking a certain side."
"The reporters tried to influence the election result but didn’t succeed. This time, they tried to support and give one side the advantage but the Turkish people did not fall for the headlines and the people had their say," he pointed out. According to him, Ankara said that it "does not accept the limits imposed by the West" and will act independently in accordance with the country’s interests.
In the first round, the incumbent Turkish president won 49.51% of the vote, and opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu received 44.88%. Sinan Ogan, who represented the ATA Alliance, got 5.17%. To win in the first round, a candidate has to garner over 50% of the vote while a simple majority ensures a victory in the runoff.