(25 Jun 2018) President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won Turkey's landmark election on Sunday, the country's electoral commission said, ushering in a new system granting the president sweeping new powers which critics say will cement what they call a one-man rule.
The presidential election and a parliamentary election also held Sunday, both more than a year early, complete NATO-member Turkey's transition from a parliamentary system of government to a strong presidential system. Voters approved the change in a referendum last year.
Erdogan, 64, insisted before the election that the expanded powers — which include the authority to impose states of emergency and to issue decrees — would bring prosperity and stability to Turkey, especially after a failed military coup attempt in 2016. A state of emergency has been in place since the coup.
The president's critics, however, warned that Erdogan's re-election would cement the grip on power of a leader who they accuse of showing increasingly autocratic tendencies.

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