Chairman of Turkey's Justice and Development (AKP) Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Sunday night that his party has won the parliamentary election and will continue ruling the country.
Erdogan, also prime minister of the country, announced victory after AKP gained 47.4 percent of votes in the parliamentary elections held on Sunday.
He said that "our union, democracy and republic have all gained strength at the ballot box."
"The national will was reflected at the ballot box in a free and transparent way," he said, adding that he felt quite pleased that "the citizens have expressed their democratic choice in a peaceful and democratic atmosphere."
He reiterated that his party will continue to crack down terrorism.
According to primary statistics, the AKP gained 46.7 percent of the 97.4 percent votes counted at present in parliamentary elections, Turkish local NTV channel reported.
The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) gained 20.9 percent of the votes, ranking the second place and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) gained 14.3 percent, ranking the third, the report said.
Meanwhile, MHP Chairman Devlet Bahceli said, "Turkish nation brought AKP to power for a second time, we should respect our nation's will," according to the semi-official Anatolian News Agency.
Bahceli said in a written statement that "Our nation assigned us as the opposition. It is understood that in the 23rd parliament important duties fall on MHP's lap. MHP will try to fulfill these duties with a sense of responsibility."
In 2002 AKP became as the first party from the polls with 34.29 percent of votes and formed a single-party government. CHP was the opposition party in the parliament while the MHP missed the parliament for it only got 8.36 percent of votes.
The three parties out of the 14 parties participated the election passed the 10 percent threshold to enter the parliament. Seats that has been allocated to the parties are: AKP, 343; CHP, 111; MHP 71; independent candidates, 25.
Source: Xinhua
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