Erdogan declares victory in elections, says no walking back on Turkey’s progress

(Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan declared victory in elections on Sunday, citing what he said was a public mandate for him and the alliance led by his ruling AK Party.

President @RT_Erdogan says it is time to focus on future of #Turkey by leaving behind the tensions of the election period,
“We want #Turkey to be amongst the first ten greatest economies in the world.- said President @RT_Erdogan#TurkeyElections #Seçim2018
Source:@TRTWorldNow pic.twitter.com/FswI2HzETi

— Horndiplomattv (@Horndiplomattv) June 24, 2018

Erdogan the most popular leader in recent Turkish history, said there would be no turning back from where he and Party had brought the economy.

“Our people have given us the job of carrying out the presidential and executive posts,” he said in a short speech from Istanbul.

“I hope nobody will try to cast a shadow on the results and harm democracy in order to hide their own failure.”

Broadcasters had earlier reported that Erdogan had 52.8 percent of the vote, with 95.1 percent of the votes counted in the presidential election.