In his first speech following the municipal elections on Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) chairperson, hailed what he called the victory of democracy.
Addressing a crowd gathered outside AK Party headquarters in the capital Ankara, Erdoğan stated that the nation exhibited its will in the ballots, without encountering any restraints and that it was a major gain for Turkish democracy.
"The victor of this election is democracy, the nation’s will, regardless of political views of the electorate," he said.
As Erdoğan took to the balcony of the party building per post-election tradition, loudspeakers blared with an old campaign song of the AK Party emphasizing the unity of Türkiye.
"We concluded the March 31 elections with a maturity appropriate for our democracy. There weren't any incidents that would overshadow the elections. But we witnessed servants of a separatist organization engaging in acts of pressure and insults toward citizens in the east and southeast," he said, referring to the PKK terrorist group.
"Thanks to the common sense of our citizens, Turkish democracy proved its maturity again. Elections are the most critical days of democracies and people voice their choice through ballots," he said.
The president termed March 31 as "a turning point, not an end."
"The Turkish nation gave its message to the politicians. The winner of this election is Türkiye as a whole. The winner is democracy. We paid a high price for its sake," he said.
His speech focused on the "embrace" of the nation as he thanked the citizens regardless of their political views. "I hope the results will be for the good of the cities," he said.
Erdoğan noted that it was the AK Party's 18th test in elections. "We always succeeded, and we will continue to succeed. I believe in you, I believe in (future) victories."
Erdoğan, on the other hand, admitted that they could not achieve the desired result, especially nine months after the general and legislative elections, in which the AK Party emerged winner. "We worked intensely for the election. AK Party staff worked day and night, in harmony, with self-sacrifice," said Erdoğan, who himself toured 52 cities on the campaign trail over the past two months.
The president also thanked his party's partner in the People's Alliance, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and chairs of political parties declaring support for the alliance.
"Throughout our political life, we walked with our nation. We don't recognize any power above the nation's will. We never gave up on approving of the nation's will," he stated.
The president said the nation made up its mind and that Ankara would support new administrators of cities in all their work for the good of the cities. "The Supreme Election Council (YSK) will declare the official results in the coming days. As the AK Party, we will assess the results and engage in self-criticism. Results show we lost momentum. We will discuss the cause of this recession. We will detect problems and take necessary steps," he said.
He repeated his motto of "there is a fate above the fate," adding: "We will not disrespect our nation's will. We will not be stubborn. We will weigh the steps in an unbiased way. Ending this election is a gain for us. We have four years ahead. We are aware of our responsibilities. We will now work on resolving urgent issues, from the recovery of earthquake-hit region to economic issues," he stated.
The president highlighted that they would steer away from "populist" steps that would harm the nation and future generations. He repeated his earlier pledges on recovery of the economy and "dealing the fatal blow to the terrorist organization," in reference to the PKK.
