What they say about the election of Erdogan in foreign media

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his victory in the second round of presidential elections held on May 28. According to preliminary data, he won 52.16% of the vote against 47.84% of his rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Erdogan was congratulated on his re-election for a third term by the leaders of the NATO countries (Turkey is a member of this alliance), the CIS, the Middle East and African states.

Vedomosti collected the reaction of foreign media to another, though not the easiest, victory of the current president of Turkey.

“Western capitals have remained silent throughout the Turkish presidential campaign – secretly hoping that Erdogan’s precarious 20-year rule will come to an abrupt end – but now that he has been handed a decisive third-term mandate, the West is torn between fear and hope.”

“Erdogan’s Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu said during the election campaign that anyone who shows pro-Western tendencies is a traitor. It may have been just campaign rhetoric, but it reflects the mentality in Turkey and perhaps elsewhere.”

“Erdogan’s re-election for a third term shows that Turkey will be in a stronger position both at home and abroad. The election results will matter far beyond Ankara. Turkey is at the crossroads of Europe and Asia and plays a key role in NATO.”

“Despite the victorious celebrations, unity in a polarized Turkey seems more distant than ever.”

“One voter near a polling station in Ankara said he would like to see an end to the brain drain from Turkey that began after the failed [военного] coup in 2016. But there is a chance that the brain drain will only get worse.”

“President Erdogan has been mandated to pursue increasingly authoritarian policies that have polarized Turkey and strengthened its position as a regional military power.”

“Kılıçdaroğlu’s defeat is likely to be mourned by Turkey’s NATO allies, who are dismayed by Erdoğan’s ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

“Like in many previous elections, rumors about the end of Erdogan’s political life turned out to be greatly exaggerated.”

Turkey’s undisputed titan enters its third decade of rule. Erdogan, 69, overcame prison and a bloody 2016 coup attempt, defeating an unprecedented coalition opposition despite inflation concerns and the catastrophe of the February earthquake.”

“Having confirmed his aura of invincibility, no one can deny that Turkey’s longest-serving leader is the most powerful in the country since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the revered founder of the post-Ottoman republic.”

“Turkey’s longest-reigning leader, Erdogan, has been tested like never before in the elections. This vote was considered by many in the country and the world to be the most important in the entire 100-year history of the republic.”

“Erdogan is praised by the poorer rural sections of the divided Turkish society because of his promotion of religious freedoms and modernization of the once dilapidated cities in the heart of Anatolia. But Erdogan is causing growing concern in the Western world because of his repressive policies.”