By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has congratulated Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after he was re-elected to office in a runoff election.
Erdogan won Turkey’s presidency with 52.14 percent of the votes, said the head of the Supreme Election Council, Ahmet Yener, on Sunday, making the results official.
Erdoğan has been President of the European country since 2014.
“Türkiye held its presidential and parliamentary elections on 14 May 2023, followed by a runoff in the presidential election on Sunday, 28 May 2023. President Erdoğan was successfully elected in the runoff.
“President Ramaphosa said South Africa looks forward to working with Türkiye, under President Erdoğan, to consolidate existing strong relations at the bilateral and multilateral levels,” a statement issued by the Presidency read.
Turkey and South Africa have enjoyed bilateral relations for more than 30 years.
“South Africa and Türkiye share common platforms in multilateral forums such as the G20, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and are active participants in the various organs of the United Nations to which both countries belong, “statement read.
The elections, in which more than 64 million Turks at home and abroad were entitled to vote, took place against a background of a cost-of-living crisis that saw inflation peak at 85 percent in October and earthquakes in February that killed more than 50,000 people.
Erdogan, 69, who came to power in 2003, initially as prime minister, offered a vision of further development, promising to extend the improvements made by his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government.