State media says Erdogan leading with 52.3% of vote, as 96% of ballots counted

Election officials count ballots at a polling station in Istanbul on May 28, 2023, after polls closed in Turkey's presidential elections. (Umit Turhan Coskun/AFP)
Election officials count ballots at a polling station in Istanbul on May 28, 2023, after polls closed in Turkey's presidential elections. (Umit Turhan Coskun/AFP)

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leads his secular rival, with almost all votes counted in Turkey’s historic runoff, putting him on course to extend his two decades in power to 2028.

With 96 percent of the ballots counted, Erdogan has won 52.3% of the vote to Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s 47.7%, the Anadolu state news agency reports.

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