Kılıçdaroğlu: Ankara and Moscow have always been close friends

Turkish opposition presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said that Ankara and Moscow have always been close friends.

“Turkey and Russia have always been close friends, our relations will be maintained and developed,” Kılıçdaroglu said on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel (quote according to TASS).

Voting in the second round of the presidential elections in Turkey took place today, May 28. Now all areas closed, the counting of votes began. In total, 191,800 ballot boxes were installed in Turkey and abroad, and it was possible to vote in 81 provinces of the republic.

On May 11, before the first round of elections, Kılıçdaroğlu on his Twitter account published a post in which he addressed in Russian “dear Russian friends”. In it, he accused Russia of spreading fake data, and also noted that “if you want to continue our friendship after May 15, keep your hands off the Turkish state.” “We still stand for cooperation and friendship,” the presidential candidate concluded at the time.

The day before the start of the second round, May 27, Kilicdaroglu urged “do not commit a sin” (haram) and not vote in the second round of elections for the incumbent head of state. Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesman Omer Celik condemned Erdogan’s rival’s call for the upcoming elections. He called the words of Kılıçdaroglu an atavism of the legacy of those who carried out military coups in Turkey.

The first round of presidential elections in Turkey took place on May 14. It was decided to organize a second round after none of the three candidates passed the 50% mark required to win in the first round. The current president of the republic, Erdogan, scored 49.4% against 44.88% from his rival, the leader of the Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kılıçdaroglu. Nationalist candidate Sinan Ogan won 5.17% of the vote and later announced that he would support Erdogan in the second round.