This is where Olaf Scholz and Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in New York in September 2022.
(Photo: IMAGO/APAimages)
Istanbul Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will remain in office for another five years. The 69-year-old won a runoff against opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu (74) on Sunday. Erdogan received 52.14 percent of the votes, Kilicdaroglu 47.86 percent, according to the electoral authority after counting 99.43 percent.
In the evening, Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke up. He underscored the will to continue working together: “Congratulations to President Erdogan on his re-election,” Scholz said on Twitter. “Now we want to push our common issues with renewed vigour.”
Germany and Turkey are close partners and allies. The two countries are also closely linked socially and economically. US President Joe Biden said he was counting on cooperation on “bilateral issues and global challenges”.
It is noteworthy that some heads of state and government had already congratulated Erdogan on his election victory before the official announcement of the results, including the Prime Minister of Libya and the head of state of Azerbaijan, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We will continue to move forward with President Erdogan, whom I congratulate on his re-election,” Macron wrote on Twitter on Sunday evening. “France and Turkey have to overcome immense challenges together.” Macron mentioned the return of peace to Europe, the future of the Euro-Atlantic Alliance and the Mediterranean Sea as keywords.
The French President congratulated Erdogan before the official result was announced.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
The Taliban government in Afghanistan, with which Turkey does not even have official bilateral relations, quickly congratulated Erdogan. The head of government of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Hassan Achund, hopes for a continuation of “friendly relations” with Turkey, as the Tolonews broadcaster reported on Sunday.
The same applies to Russian President Vladimir Putin: “The election victory was the legitimate result of your selfless work as the head of state of the Turkish Republic,” according to the Kremlin’s congratulatory telegram published on Sunday. The election victory also demonstrates the support of the Turkish people for the course of “national sovereignty and independent foreign policy.”
Putin thanked Erdogan for building good bilateral relations between the two countries. Russia is ready to continue cooperation on both bilateral and international issues, the head of the Kremlin assured.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Recep Erdogan on his election victory. “I congratulate the President of Turkey @RTErdogan on winning the presidential elections,” Zelensky tweeted on Sunday evening. He is counting on further cooperation in the bilateral area and on strengthening Europe’s security.
Everyone in the West in particular knows that relations with Turkey will definitely not get any easier with Erdogan. For example, Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson tweeted: “Our common security is the priority of the future”.
Turkey has not yet ratified the Scandinavian country’s NATO membership because Ankara believes the country is not doing enough to combat terrorist groups. In her congratulations, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also refrained from describing Turkey as a candidate for EU membership. Instead, she is looking forward to further expanding EU-Turkey relations.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter: “I look forward to continuing our work together and preparing for the NATO summit in July.”
Observers expect that Erdogan will continue his independent foreign policy. Under him as President, NATO member Turkey has recently distanced itself ideologically from the Western defense alliance and pursued its own approaches in foreign and security policy.
Ankara bought a Russian missile defense system in 2017 and is still negotiating with the Russian leadership even after the start of the Ukraine war. What displeases the West pleases the Kremlin: in his letter of greeting to Erdogan, Russia’s President praised his “independent foreign policy”.
More: Gulf States are temporarily supporting Türkiye with capital
With agency material.