Turkey’s Erdoğan reelected for five more years

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won the majority of the vote in what was expected to be the most difficult election of his two decades in power. By Monday morning, all the votes were counted, with Erdoğan receiving 52 percent of the country’s 54 million votes. Turkish media reported that a key voting issue was the government’s role in rebuilding from the February earthquakes.

What are Erdoğan’s plans for his term? Erdoğan continues to hold influence in the Middle East and Europe. He campaigned on increasing Turkey’s power in energy, agriculture, education, and transportation. He plans to strengthen “the axis of Turkey” with peaceful foreign policies. Erdoğan’s party policy plan includes tourism growth, reduced unemployment, and rebuilding from the February earthquakes that damaged cities across 11 provinces and killed over 50,000 people.

Dig deeper: Read Sharon Dierberger and Onize Ohikere’s report in WORLD Magazine about the humanitarian relief effort after the earthquake.