FirstFT: Turkey’s Erdoğan declares victory in presidential election

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has declared victory in Turkey’s presidential election.

Unofficial results show the veteran leader has won over rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, although ballots are still being counted.

Erdoğan had secured about 52 per cent of the vote, compared with 48 per cent for Kılıçdaroğlu, according to the state Anadolu news agency, after more than 99 per cent of ballot boxes had been opened.

The results have not yet been confirmed by Turkey’s election board.

A victory would launch Erdoğan’s rule into a third decade, amid a fierce opposition and fraught political and economic climate.

The lira hit a record low on Friday, while the country’s dollar bonds were hit hard over the past fortnight and costs to insure against a debt default lurched higher.

Investors and economists say they are particularly worried about a big slide in Turkey’s foreign exchange reserves, which accelerated ahead of the first round of elections on May 14.

The opposition has warned that another five-year term for Erdoğan would send the country irreversibly down a path where democracy and human rights were steadily eroded.

Here’s what I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Banks closed: Many financial markets are closed today across the US, UK, and other European nations for Memorial day, Spring bank holiday, and the Whit Sunday public holiday.

• Computex Taipei: Nvidia’s founder and chief executive Jensen Huang and Arm’s chief executive Rene Haas will deliver keynote speeches today, ahead of the Computex technology conference in Taipei.

• Nigeria’s new president: Former governor of Lagos state Bola Tinubu will be inaugurated as Nigeria’s president after winning the country’s disputed presidential election in February with 36.6 per cent of the vote.

Five more top stories

1. Russia has launched a massive drone attack on Kyiv, in what local officials described as the largest kamikaze drone attack since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of the country 15 months ago.

2. Europe’s green transition will be impossible without China, the Dutch trade minister has warned, as the EU tries to untangle some of its economic dependence on the Asian powerhouse.

3. China’s first passenger jet has completed its maiden commercial flight, in a symbolic moment for China’s technological independence after years of delays for the project

4. Republican leaders tried to quell a debt deal revolt on Sunday, as both sides moved to sell their parties on a deal to prevent a looming US default.

5. Mike Lynch used $50mn worth of Darktrace shares to pay for his bail as he awaits trial for fraud in the US. The billionaire founder of UK software group Autonomy faces a criminal trial in California over 17 charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud.

The Big Read

Green hydrogen has a seductive appeal. Done right, the zero-emissions energy source has the potential to penetrate many corners of the global economy and be instrumental in the fight against climate change. But there’s a catch. The FT calculated that delivering green hydrogen requires $20tn of investment by 2050 — and globally, we are only about 0.15 per cent of the way there.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Lunch with the FT: Outgoing UK cyber intelligence chief Jeremy Fleming discusses Russia’s appetite for risk, China’s quest for tech supremacy, and the James Bond effect with the FT’s Roula Khalaf.

• Ageing and work: Why do so many people believe we get worse at our jobs as we get older? Pilita Clark asks. Here’s what we get wrong about ageing and work.

• Vineyard blues: In North Canterbury, New Zealand a wine estate has been battered by nightmare weather. Jancis Robinson explores the first vineyard visit that left her feeling sad — and why.

Chart of the day

Citizen juries have become more and more frequently used over the past few decades. Introducing citizens directly into political processes could not only introduce the common sense of the public into politics in a way that would be complimentary to elections of political leaders, but could also help fix democracy, writes Martin Wolf.

Take a break from the news

Deepfake vocal clones have arrived, and are going viral on social media. Curious about AI-generated voice copying, the FT’s pop critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney embarked on an unlikely quest to replicate his favourite singer’s voice for the Weekend Essay. Follow — and listen to — his digital journey.

Additional contributions by Tee Zhuo and Emily Goldberg