Erdogan wins tight race for presidency in Turkey’s runoff election

May 28 (UPI) — Incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won reelection Sunday over opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Turkey’s runoff race.

The election went to a second round of voting Sunday after neither candidate could secure a simple majority of votes during the May 14 election in which Erdogan took 49.5% of the vote, Kilicdaroglu took 45% and far-right nationalist Sinan Ogan captured 5.2%.

Turkish news agencies gave Erdogan an early lead, the BBC reported, however the distance between the candidates was disputed and the race remained competitive even after the polls closed.

The election comes on the heels of devastating earthquakes at the intersection of Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia. Erdogan has faced criticism over a slow response to the crises, and rising costs.

However, the largest criticism Erdogan has faced is that he has moved Turkey closer to autocracy in his nearly 20 years in power.

He served as the country’s 25th prime minister from 2003 to 2014 before being elected president. Erdogan, who has served as president since 2014, will now serve another five-year term.

His opponent, Kilicdaroglu, was supported by a coalition of opponents who sought to enhance the democratic values of Turkey.

Kilicdaroglu has also supported the deportation of millions of refugees during his first year in office.

World leaders have started congratulating Erdogan on his election victory.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said in a statement that he hopes Erdogan will “remain committed to the further development of your country and the well-being of its citizens.”

“For us, Turkey is an extremely important partner, not only in the field of economic and bilateral relations, but also on the international political scene,” Vučić said.

“I hope that in addition to the existing big projects, we will work together on new initiatives that will accelerate the strong development of the entire region, but also bring people together and connect economies for the benefit of all our citizens.”

The office of Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said he called Erdogan and congratulated him on his victory in the elections.