RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have congratulated Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he was declared the victor in a historic runoff Turkish election.
The 69-year-old leader overcame Turkiye’s biggest economic crisis in generations and a powerful opposition alliance to take an unassailable lead.
The UAE’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan also sent a message of congratulations to Erdogan after the declaration.
UAE Vice President and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum sent a similar message to Erdogan, Emirates News Agency reported.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi also congratulated Erdogan, as did French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin said the win was evidence the Turkish people appreciated Erdogan’s independent foreign policy.
The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia was eyeing “very ambitious goals” in ties with Turkey after Erdogan’s win.
“When it comes to the implementation of joint Russian-Turkish projects there is already a fairly high dynamic. Of course, we expect that the dynamic will continue, because the goals are really very ambitious,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky also sent messages of congraulations.
