ISTANBUL: PM Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday (28th of May, 2023) congratulated Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his historic re-election as President of Turkiye.
Taking to the Twitter Shehbaz Sharif stated:“Heartiest congratulations to my dear brother H.E. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his historic re-election as President, Republic of Turkiye.
“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.
“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 bilateral relations between Pakistan & Turkiye will continue to stay on an upward trajectory.
“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.
Heartiest congratulations to my dear brother H.E. President
@RTErdogan
on his historic re-election as President, Republic of Turkiye. 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. 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 bilateral relations between Pakistan & Turkiye will continue to stay on an upward trajectory. I keenly look forward to working with him to further deepen our strategic partnership in line with the excellent brotherhood between our two peoples.
Sevgili kardeşim Cumhurbaşkanı
@RTErdogan
‘ı Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı olarak tarihe geçecek bir seçimde yeniden seçildiği için tebrik ederim. Kendisi siyasetini kamu hizmetine adamış olan birkaç dünya liderinden biridir. O, mazlum Müslümanlar için sağlam bir direk ve onların vazgeçilmez hakları için ateşli bir ses olmuştur. Kendisinin Cumhurbaşkanlığı seçimindeki ve AKP’nin milletvekili seçimlerindeki zaferi, Türk halkının onun dinamik liderliğine olan güvenini ve inancını yansıtmakla pek çok açıdan önemlidir. Pakistan ve Türkiye arasındaki ikili ilişkiler, yukarıya doğru giden bir yörüngede kalmaya devam edecektir. İki halk arasındaki mükemmel kardeşlik bağları doğrultusundaki stratejik ortaklığımızı daha da derinleştirmek için kendisiyle birlikte çalışmayı dört gözle bekliyorum.
In a working-class Istanbul harbor where Recep Tayyip Erdogan grew up playing football, Hasan Karakaya had only one description for Turkey’s president after voting on Sunday: “He’s the best”.
I was the first to vote. I have voted for the same one, always the same one,” the lemonade seller in his 50s told the Medi.
Taxi driver Ozcan Ege also glowed with praise for Kasimpasa’s favourite son.
Ege, 65, grew up in the neighbourhood and remembers Erdogan as a “hard-working” and “intelligent” teenager, predicting he will win with 60 percent of the national vote.
“But here he will have 90 percent,” he said.
Erdogan defied expectations when he almost secured an outright victory in the first round on May 14, making him the clear favourite to extend his two-decade rule to 2028.
He has frequently played up his humble roots in the hilly neighborhood on the European side of Istanbul, which neighbors a much richer one where the secular opposition dominates.
“I learned life in Kasimpasa, not in an ivory tower,” Erdogan said earlier this week as campaigning for the runoff election drew to a close.
Yasar Kirici, 80, was the neighbour of the future president. “He came by the front of our door every day. He was a great lad,” he said.
The man supporters reverently call “Reis” (“chief”) visited Kasimpasa just before the first round and “greeted us from his car”, Kirici said with a smile.
“He doesn’t come here a lot anymore. He doesn’t have the time, he’s busy sorting the world’s problems,” he added.
A short distance away, Ilyas Arslan served soup to a recently arrived client. “There’s no one like Erdogan – he’s like a dad to us!” enthused the man in his 50s, clad in a white apron.
Textile worker Mustafa Siper said Kasimpasa electors would vote “100 percent” for Turkey’s longest-serving leader.
Secular challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of a six-party opposition alliance, “can’t win”, he concluded.
But not everyone in Kasimpasa is a fervent follower of Erdogan and his Islamic-rooted party.
Sitting outside his shop with a steaming cup of tea, Hasan Kirci once vied with
Erdogan during games of street football – this time he’s opposing the 69-year-old at the ballot box.
Kirci, 70, said he opted for Kilicdaroglu because a local football pitch was closed and “now all the youngsters are taking drugs”.
His neighbour Recep Ozcelik, 75, will also vote for Kilicdaroglu, blaming Erdogan for a severe cost-of-living crisis.
“How much does a kilo of cheese cost now?” fumed the retired driver, complaining about the difficulties of eating meat like he used to.
Kilicdaroglu is also making inroads among Kasimpasa’s younger voters, including 30-year-old Ramazan Parlak.
“He’s a democrat, he’s an honest man,” Parlak said of the opposition leader. “Turkey has become Afghanistan.
“If Erdogan wins, I will leave for Germany or France.”
Sitting at a nearby bus stop, Kaan Karababa, 25, fears that an Erdogan re-election will be disastrous for Turkey.
“The economic crisis will get worse and refugees will continue to come in masses,” he told the Media.
But taxi driver Ege dismissed the economic troubles plaguing Turks. “Inflation isn’t a problem, people always have a little money,” he said.
Despite a slight limp in his walk and a more haggard face, Erdogan managed to maintain his relentless campaigning, holding up to three rallies per day.
APP/AFP
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