Erdogan faces run-off challenge as he falls short of 50%. Ogan’s right-wing ATA Alliance could tip the balance in second round The support of Sinan Ogan from the ATA Alliance, a right-wing party that performed well in Sunday’s vote, could be decisive in a possible run-off election between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu, according to analyst Soner Cagaptay.
Cagaptay, who heads the Turkey Research Program at the Washington Institute in Washington DC, told Al Jazeera that Ogan’s votes prevented either candidate from securing a 50 percent majority in the first round.
Cagaptay said both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu would seek to win over Ogan, but Erdogan had a better chance of doing so because of his conservative credentials. Erdogan’s fans celebrate outside party HQ in Ankara The supporters of the Turkish president have gathered outside the AK party’s headquarters in Ankara to cheer for their leader as they wait for the results.
They have been waving Turkish flags and lighting up flares, and the atmosphere is festive.
Kilicdaroglu confident of victory in run-off Kemal Kilicdaroglu has said that he will win if the presidential election goes to a second round on May 28.
He told reporters: “If our nation says second round, we will definitely win the second round.”
He added: “The desire for change in society is higher than 50 percent.” President Erdogan has claimed that he has a big lead over Kilicdaroglu in the presidential election, but he is not sure if he has won in the first round.
Erdogan, speaking at his party’s headquarters in Ankara, said he was ahead of the main opposition candidate by 2.6 million votes.
He said: “We have always respected the decision of the national will in our political life. We respect it in this election as well, and we will respect it in the next elections.”
He also said he expected this number to increase with official results, saying: “We believe we will win in first round.”
