ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday congratulated Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his reelection as the Turkish president, extending his rule into a third decade.
A third term gives Erdogan an even stronger hand domestically and internationally, and the election results will have implications far beyond Ankara. Turkiye stands at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and it plays a key role in NATO.
With more than 99 percent of ballot boxes opened on Sunday, unofficial results from competing news agencies showed Erdogan with 52 percent of the vote, compared with 48 percent for his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
Extending his felicitations, the Pakistani prime minister described President Erdogan as a “pillar of strength for the oppressed Muslims.”
“He is one of few world leaders whose politics has been anchored in public service. He has been a pillar of strength for the oppressed Muslims & a fervent voice for their inalienable rights,” Sharif wrote on Twitter late Sunday.
“His presidential victory & that of AKP in parliamentary elections is significant in so many ways, reflecting the trust & confidence of the Turkish people in his dynamic leadership.”
The Pakistani premier hoped that bilateral relations between Pakistan and Turkiye would continue to stay on an upward trajectory under Erdogan’s reign.
“I keenly look forward to working with him to further deepen our strategic partnership in line with the excellent brotherhood between our two peoples,” he added.
Erdogan’s government vetoed Sweden’s bid to join NATO and purchased Russian missile-defense systems, which prompted the United States to oust Turkiye from a US-led fighter-jet project. But Turkiye also helped broker a crucial deal that allowed Ukrainian grain shipments and averted a global food crisis.
In his first comments since the polls closed, Erdogan thanked the nation for entrusting him with the presidency for five more years.
“We hope to be worthy of your trust, as we have been for 21 years,” he told supporters on a campaign bus outside his home in Istanbul.
Erdogan, a 69-year-old Muslim, is set to remain in power until 2028.
The first half of his tenure included reforms that allowed the country to begin talks to join the European Union, and economic growth that lifted many out of poverty. But he later moved to suppress freedoms and the media and concentrated more power in his own hands, especially after a failed coup attempt that Turkiye says was orchestrated by a US-based Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen.
