Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo. Twitter@Abdizo_ibrahim
Turkish presidential election officials say 99 percent of the ballots from the general election have been counted.
On Sunday, general elections was held to elect a President of Turkey after 20 years of Recep Tayyip Erdogan being in power.
According to election officials, after counting 99 percent of the ballots on Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is leading with over 49% of the vote, while Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) has over 45%.
Reports sat the 74 years old Mr. Kilicdaroglu has lost several elections as leader of his Republican People’s Party, but this time his promise of reviving Turkish democracy and scrapping the president’s excessive powers have gained the support of the people.
Meanwhile, President Erdogan has accused the West of plotting to bring him down.
Addressing his supporters in the early hours of Monday, Erdogan said he was ready for a second round, promising to abide by the will of the people.
Erdogan who called out the opposition on its claims of voting irregularities, urged them to wait patiently for the final results to be announced.
With the margin between the two contenders, a run-off is expected to take place in two weeks.
Writing Juliet Onwurah; Editing by Annabel Nwachukwu