Turkish president rejects 'dictatorship' claims

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday rejected claims that he is a "dictator" and said if he was an authoritarian leader he would have won the presidential election in the first round on May 14.

"There are insidious psychological operations carried out in the international media about us. ... On the night of May 14, we threw all this away with the will manifested in the ballot box. We have shown that dictatorship rhetoric is pure nonsense.

"Think of it this way. Will a dictator hold a second round? The dictator finishes his job in the first round. And besides, he can finish with 90% (of votes). There are many examples of this in the world. We are longing to win the hearts of our nation, not the dictatorship," Erdogan said at a rally in the capital Ankara.

Türkiye showed the whole world that "the nation cannot be swayed by the covers of magazines," he added.

Erdogan repeatedly criticized international media outlets that have recently tried to influence public opinion with articles on the country's elections, saying Türkiye will not allow its politics to be directed by the covers of magazines.

Millions of voters went to the polls on May 14 to elect the country’s president and members of its 600-seat parliament.

Erdogan’s People’s Alliance won a majority in parliament, while the presidential race is headed to a second round on May 28.

Erdogan will face Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and joint candidate for the six-party opposition Nation Alliance, in the runoff vote.

Erdogan finished the first round with 49.52% of the vote, while Kilicdaroglu came second at 44.88%, and Sinan Ogan of the ATA (Ancestral) Alliance got 5.17%.

Hailing the high turnout on May 14, Erdogan said the Turkish nation showed its will with a record rate that even made European countries jealous.

"On May 14, we not only saw the power of Turkish democracy, but also witnessed the bursting of many perception bubbles," he added.

Despite the smear campaigns carried out by those who could not take even half of the voters to the polls in their own countries, Erdogan said almost 90% of the voters in Türkiye went to the polls.

"As Türkiye, we gave a very successful test on behalf of our democracy on May 14. Despite all the provocations, our nation almost flocked to the ballot box," he added.

Return of Syrian refugees

Turning to the voluntary return of Syrian refugees, Erdogan said: "We started to send around 500,000 refugees to briquette houses in northern Syria.

"We cannot ignore Germany, France, America. Just as they take their steps regarding the refugees under a certain program, we do the same thing.

"As of now, we have started to send around 500,000 refugees to briquette houses in northern Syria," Erdogan said during his address at another rally in Ankara.

He added that Türkiye and Qatar take joint step regarding refugees, saying: "With the joint step we took with Qatar, the construction of houses where we will settle 1 million refugees continues. Projects are currently being prepared."

More than 3.7 million Syrians currently reside in Türkiye, making it the world's top refugee-hosting country.

Following the start of a civil war in Syria in 2011, Türkiye adopted an "open-door" policy for Syrians fleeing persecution and brutality.

Syria has been embroiled in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN estimates.