KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has joined other world leaders in congratulating Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for winning a historic runoff election yesterday, the toughest challenge of his political career.

Anwar expressed his congratulations and expressed Malaysia’s eagerness to collaborate closely with Turkey to further strengthen their already good bilateral relations.

"Congratulations to HE President Erdogan for being elected as the 13th President of the Republic of Türkiye in the recent Presidential election.

"Türkiye will continue to play a constructive role as an important regional and global player,” said Anwar, who shares strong ties with Erdogan in his tweet.

The chairman of Türkiye’s Supreme Election Council (YSK), Ahmet Yener announced that Erdogan has been reelected Türkiye’s president in runoff elections yesterday.

Ahmet was reported as saying by Anadolu Agency that Erdogan won Türkiye’s presidency over opposition challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the second-round runoff vote.

According to unofficial results, the Turkish incumbent won the race with 52.14 per cent, while Kilicdaroglu got 47.86 per cent of the votes, he said, adding that 99.43 per cent of the ballot boxes have been opened so far.

In the first round of voting on May 14, Erdogan secured a nearly five-point lead over Kilicdaroglu but fell short of the 50 per cent threshold needed to win.

The president’s parliamentary bloc won a majority of seats in the parliamentary race on the same day. — Bernama