The European Union (EU) today called on Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who won the first direct presidential elections in Turkey, to play "the role of a conciliator in Turkish society".
"We congratulate you on your election victory... and we hope that you will play the role of a conciliator... to bring together all communities, all beliefs, all sensibilities, all opinions and all ways of life in Turkish society," said the message that the president of the European Council Herman van Rompuy and the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso addressed to Erdogan.
They reminded that Turkey is "an important partner of the EU: a candidate country for membership, a neighbor, a trade partner and a diplomatic ally". European officials urged the new Turkish president to "continue to make efforts to resolve the Kurdish issue and reach a solution for Cyprus," an EU member whose northern part is occupied by Turkey.
Putin and Merkel congratulated Erdogan
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel today congratulated Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his victory in the Turkish presidential election.
"Germany and Turkey are bound by a close partnership full of trust. It is my personal desire to continue working together with you on deepening the traditionally friendly relations between our two countries, in the interest of our citizens," Merkel wrote in her congratulatory message to Erdogan.
She also pointed out the difficult challenges in the region, in solving which, as she stated, Turkey has a big role, it was stated in a statement on the website of the German government.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Russian president congratulated Erdogan on his victory and that Putin and Erdogan "expressed the hope that the development of the strategic partnership between the two countries will continue."
He added that President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambaev, who is visiting Putin in Sochi, also congratulated Erdogan, Itar tas reported.
Austria abstained
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria, Sebastian Kurz, reacted with restraint to Erdogan's victory in the elections today.
Vienna only acknowledged Erdogan's election victory.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Austria respects Erdogan's victory," states the first reaction of the ministry and emphasizes that the bilateral agenda will continue to be worked on, APA reported.
During Erdogan's pre-election visit to Vienna in June, Kurz criticized the politician and accused him of transferring the elections in Turkey to Austria and boycotting integration efforts.
"We reject that," Kurc said then, adding that "respect for the host country looks different."
In Austria, Turkish immigrants make up the third largest group of foreigners, and this diaspora was divided over the Turkish election, although more are supporters of Erdogan.
More than 10.000 supporters of Erdogan came to the pre-election meeting in Vienna in June, and at the same time protests against this politician were held with several thousand supporters.
OSCE: The media were biased
The OSCE observation mission assessed that the media in Turkey had an unbalanced coverage of the presidential elections, favoring Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to unofficial results, Erdogan won about 51 percent of the votes of the voters.
Erdogan's campaign dominated the media in Turkey, unlike his opponents.
The OSCE stated that the prime minister's "use of an official position, along with fan media coverage, gave him a significant advantage over other candidates."
OSCE observer coordinator Viliya Aleknaite Abramkiene assessed, however, that the vote showed that "there is a rich political life in Turkey", and that the results showed that there is "potential for a healthy balance of political forces".
The Turkish Election Commission is scheduled to announce the official results of the presidential election today.
Former ambassador of Serbia in Turkey: Erdogan's path, Ataturk's history
After the victory of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the presidential elections, Turkey is in for a turbulent political autumn, according to former ambassador Dušan Spasojević.
The former representative of Serbia in Turkey pointed out that an important question will be how the transfer of power from the position of prime minister to the presidency will look like.
"A lot depends on who will succeed Erdogan as the leader of the ruling AK Party and the position of prime minister, how this process of transferring power from the prime minister's palace to the presidential palace in Ankara's elite neighborhood of Çankaja will look like," said Spasojević.
He added that it will be particularly interesting to see what will be the political fates of former Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, "two Turkish politicians who, along with Prime Minister Erdogan, have been the subject of public attention in the Balkans."
"The way these two are positioned in the new allocation of cards can serve as a good indicator of Turkey's intentions in the Balkans," Spasojević said.
According to him, the victory in the first election round opened the way for Erdogan to be at the head of Turkey longer than its founder and first president Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, as well as that Erdogan has already become the statesman with the longest tenure within NATO, of which Turkey is member since 1952.
"The victory already in the first round, the political pedigree and the character traits of this undoubtedly gifted leader - all this indicates that Erdogan has no reason to give up his political and life mission. That mission implies the concentration of power in the hands of the President of the Republic, which until now is mostly was a duty of a symbolic and ceremonial nature," Spasojević said.
He added that it can already be said that Erdogan is "on his way", and that "Ataturk belongs more and more to history".
"The best indicators are the re-Islamization of internal and foreign policy, but also the recognition of the existence and democratic opening of the Kurdish issue in Turkey itself, which has been a taboo topic for decades. Prime Minister Erdogan was both the bearer and personification of both of these processes, with which an extremely successful process was running in parallel economic and economic development of this country," Spasojević said.
When asked about Turkey's policy in the Balkans after Erdogan's victory, Spasojevic said that "Turkey's prestige and influence in the Balkans largely depends on its internal character."
"The more 'European' it (Turkey) is, the more attractive it will be as a partner of the Balkan countries. The more it is in the Middle East, the less it will be in the Balkans," Spasojević said, reminding that since the fall of 2011, Turkey, in terms of foreign policy, , turned away from Europe, and therefore from the Balkans, towards the Middle East.
Asked about the support of some Balkan politicians for Erdogan in the campaign, Spasojevic said that it had no impact on the elections in Turkey.
"Neither (Esad) Džudžević's and (Bakir) Izetbegović's public support influenced the outcome of yesterday's presidential elections in Turkey, nor Erdogan's incendiary, religiously determined and often exclusionary rhetoric can be of use to Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia," said Spasojević.
He added that Erdogan, with his harsh anti-Israel rhetoric as well as frequent declarations of support and solidarity with Muslims around the world, has in a certain way acquired the "Robin Hood status", the protector of the weak, disenfranchised and poor.
"The religious moment plays a crucial role here, and Erdogan himself likes, and on the internal level, uses the role of protector of all Sunni Muslims. He does not shy away from harsh criticism of his allies in NATO, from frequent meetings with the leaders of Hamas, who in most EU countries are on the lists of terrorist organizations and individuals," Spasojević said.
He also assessed as "indicative" the fact that in the last year there has not been a single "critical arrow fired at Russia and its president" by Erdogan.
"The proclaimed policy of 'zero problems with neighbors' has experienced a fiasco and turned into its own opposite, which Erdogan's political opponents often call the policy of 'zero friends among neighbors,'" said Spasojevic.
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