People’s Alliance gearing up for runoff vote: Erdogan

As Türkiye heads to an election runoff on May 28, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his People’s Alliance has started preparing for the much-anticipated vote.

"The will manifested in the ballot box is sacred," Erdogan said on Tuesday during his first joint live broadcast, with broadcasters CNN Turk and Kanal D, after last Sunday's presidential and parliamentary elections.

"As the alliance, we immediately started preparing for May 28. I had my meetings with all the (party) leaders today," he added.

Millions of voters went to the polls on Sunday to elect the country's president and members of its 600-seat parliament.

Erdogan's People's Alliance won a majority in parliament with 49.46 percent of the votes, securing 322 seats, while the Nation's Alliance won 35.02 percent, securing 213 seats.

Meanwhile, the presidential race is headed to a second round on May 28 after no candidate won an outright majority in the first round, although Erdogan was ahead with 49.50 percent of the vote.

Erdogan will face Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and joint candidate for the six-party opposition Nation Alliance, in the runoff vote. Kilicdaroglu, secured 44.89 percent of the vote.

During his live broadcast on Tuesday, Erdogan also hailed the high voter turnout, which was at 88.92 percent in Türkiye and 53.20 percent among Turkish voters abroad. He said he expects the same in the second round as well.

"I would like to thank my citizens for the record participation. We had a great democracy festival befitting Türkiye. It could be unique in the world. The turnout was around 90 percent," Erdogan said.

It is necessary to make good use of the next 12 days, he added.

Visit to quake-hit region

Erdogan also said he will visit some of the quake-hit areas this weekend.

"I am not thinking of holding rallies but we can hold meetings in the earthquake zone," he said.

His Justice and Development (AK) Party came out on top in Sunday's elections in 10 of the 11 provinces hit by February 6 powerful earthquakes, claiming the lives of more than 50,000 people.

The president has vowed to rebuild the country's southern region by building a total of 650,000 new houses, 319,000 of which will be delivered in one year, and erase the traces of earthquake victims.

Erdogan said he will have a strong Cabinet in the new period while eliminating the current shortcomings. He vowed to maintain contact with all world leaders in line with Türkiye's interests.

"We do not have such a thing as pulling a country and pushing a country away. There is no question of defying Russia as the CHP [Republican People's Party] did ... There is no leader that I am offended by. I am negotiating with all of them. When you throw a country aside, you lose," Erdogan said.

Last week, Kilicdaroglu accused Russia of being behind leaked videos meant to discredit certain presidential candidates.

Moscow, in return, rejected accusations, saying there can be no question of any interference of Russia in the Turkish elections, and that "those who spread such rumours are liars."