Turkey election: President Erdogan, challenger are headed to May 28 runoff

The closely watched presidential election in Turkey will be decided by a runoff vote on May 28, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, each failed to capture an outright victory.

Preliminary results showed Erdogan won 49.5% of the vote, while Kilicdaroglu grabbed 44.9%, and the third candidate, Sinan Ogan, received 5.2%, according to Ahmet Yener, head of the Supreme Electoral Board.

Yener told the Associated Press that the 69-year-old Erdogan – who has served as either prime minister or president of Turkey continuously since 2003 – would not be able to get enough votes for a win even if all the remaining uncounted ones went in his favor.