GENEVA (AA) – European media on Monday appeared to come to terms with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s success in Sunday's elections.
British, French, German, Austrian, Dutch, Swiss and Hungarian media outlets all covered the Turkish elections
Most of these media had run predominantly negative campaigns against the Turkish president and the new presidential system.
“Welcome to the next leadership of Erdogan,” says Neue Zurcher Zeitung, a German-language daily newspaper in Switzerland.
Erdogan won an absolute majority in the presidential election with 52.5 percent of the vote on Sunday, according to the Supreme Election Council.
In Sunday’s parliamentary polls, the People's Alliance — a coalition of Erdogan's Justice and Development (AK) Party and the Nationalist Movement Party — won 53.6 percent of the vote.
On the other hand, Muslim Brotherhood members union in Switzerland also congratulates Erdogan amid election victory.
Britain's Sky News reported the Turkish Supreme Election Council’s announcement.
“With 97.7% of the votes counted, the electoral board pronounced Mr. Erdogan as the winner with an ‘absolute majority’ of valid votes,” it said.
French daily Liberation also announced Erdogan’s success with the headline “Turkey: and then Erdogan wins”, adding that voter turnout was record-breaking.
The Tagesspiegel newspaper of Germany said the Turkish president would need more support from nationalists while the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung stressed the fact that there would be no second round.
De Volkskrant, Netherlands newspaper relied on Anadolu Agency’s reports to cover the elections.
In Austria, Die Presse also reported on Turkish citizens in Austria who overwhelmingly supported the Justice and Development (AK) Party .
“Erdogan is a charismatic leader, most of the Turkish people support him,” said Janos Hovari, former Hungarian envoy in Ankara who was quoted in the Magyar Idok newspaper in Hungary.
