It’s past two o’clock on election night in Istanbul, and presidential candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now speaking from the balcony of party headquarters.

The President of Türkiye was so excited and energetic when he spoke from the balcony last night. In front of his supporters, he declared that the country was a celebration of democracy.

– Although the results are not yet clear, we are in the lead by a good margin. Both domestic and foreign votes must still be counted, we are not trying to deceive the nation by imagining progress even though we are far behind, he said clearly to potential opponents.

– We have always been honest with the state. We think we can get over 50% in this round of elections, he said, and with that in mind he still seems to think he can win when all is said and done.

Earlier today, there were multiple indications that they would be deadlocked and fresh rounds of elections.

Both candidates have stated that they will accept a second round of voting if neither gets more than 50%.

On Sunday evening, Kemal stated that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu gave a speech shortly after Erdogan. He said he accepted the second round of voting and that he would win it.

The latest figures, in which 91% of the votes have been counted, show that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has won a majority in the two largest cities, Istanbul and Ankara. He has also won in areas with a large Kurdish minority, such as in Diyarbakir. Erdogan holds the majority in Anatolia.

Read about the Turkish election thriller here!