ERDOĞAN SWORN IN FOR NEW TERM AS TURKISH PRESIDENT

Sat 03 June 2023:

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has been inaugurated in as president after winning a historic run-off election to extend his two-decade rule for another five years.

“I, as president, swear upon my honour and integrity before the great Turkish nation and history to safeguard the existence and independence of the state,” Erdogan said in a ceremony at the parliament in Ankara, broadcast live on television.

“We will embrace all 85 million people [in the country] regardless of their political views, origins, or sect.”

WATCH: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the oath of office at the Turkish Parliament for his new five-year presidential term.

Erdogan won 52.18% of votes in a May 28 run-off vote pic.twitter.com/tNKd0O9nNL

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) June 3, 2023

Saturday’s inauguration was followed by a lavish ceremony at the presidential palace in the capital attended by dozens of world leaders. Turkey’s longest-serving leader faces considerable diplomatic challenges amid tensions with the West.

Turkey’s transformative but divisive leader won the May 28 run-off against a powerful opposition coalition, and despite an economic crisis and criticism following a devastating February earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people.

Erdogan won 52.2 percent of the vote while his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu 47.8 percent, official results show.

Inauguration ceremony was attended by at least 78 members of the international community. Some of the guests include Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

❝We will embrace all 85 million people in Türkiye, regardless of their political views, origins, or sect,❞ pledges Recep Tayyip Erdogan at inauguration ceremony after being sworn in as president. 📸 Anadolu Agency@TurkishEmbPTA pic.twitter.com/i5MuRlviQG

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) June 3, 2023

Turkey’s new members of parliament started being sworn in on Friday in their first session after the May 14 election, also attended by Erdogan. His alliance holds a majority in the 600-seat parliament.

Erdogan’s victory came against a unified opposition coalition led by Kilicdaroglu, whose future as leader of the CHP party remains in doubt following the defeat.

Erdogan became prime minister in 2003 after his AK Party won an election in late 2002 following Turkey’s worst economic crisis since the 1970s.

In 2014, he became the country’s first popularly elected president and was elected again in 2018 after securing new executive powers for the presidency in a 2017 referendum.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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