First reactions from the parties ahead of the run-off election

The President of the Supreme Election Council (YSK), Ahmet Yener, announced that the presidential election has gone to the second round. With the official announcement of the second round of the presidential election, the election calendar has also been released.
The runoff election in Turkey will be held on May 28th. Voting abroad will start on May 20 and end on May 24. Many party leaders and representatives commented on the final round of the presidential election.
Sinan Ogan, who won 5,2 percent of the vote as a presidential candidate, has emerged as a potential kingmaker in the runoff, making it one of the biggest curiosities whom he will support in the second round. In an interview with BBC Turkish, Ogan said, “We will complete the consultations in 1-2 days and probably announce it after that.” In the same interview, Ogan also stated that he had red lines in support of Kilicdaroglu: “We have certain conditions such as fighting terrorism, distancing from political parties supported by terrorist organizations, and sending refugees back.” Ogan is expected to meet with both presidential candidates.
The Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) leader Erkan Bas made a statement after a meeting with the central executive board of his party. “We don’t have a minute to lose,” Bas said, adding that all party members have started working for Kemal Kilicdaroglu to win. The TIP leader also included these words in his statement on Twitter: “TIP and its 1 million voters are starting to work decisively for Mr. Kilicdaroglu to win. We will not give up, we will resist, and we will increase hope. We will win!”
The Green Left Party (YSP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) also encouraged their voters not to give up hope: “Our people and millions who voted for the YSP should feel relieved. We will fulfill the historical role, mission, and responsibility given to us by our people concerning the presidential elections which are heading for a second round. We will continue our work without losing our hope and enthusiasm. We will evaluate the second round of the elections at all the authorized boards of our party, and we will share our work program with our people and the public as soon as possible.”
The Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader and presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu shared a short video after the announcement of the election results. In the video, Kilicdaroglu said, “I am here, I am here, you are here too. I swear I will fight to the end. I am here.” Additionally, the CHP Central Executive Committee held a meeting with the participation of Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The agenda of the meeting was the election, election results and the strategies to be followed in the second round. The results of the meeting have not yet been announced.
President Erdoğan made a statement on his Twitter account as well: “Despite political engineering from Kandil, Pennsylvania, social media channels and foreign magazine covers, our nation protected its free will. On May 14th, we will increase our vote rate even further, and we will emerge victorious in the May 28 elections, and Insha’Allah we will achieve historic success.”
In a written statement, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, said: “Turkey won on May 14, 2023. The dastardly scenarios, dark campaigns, and dirty and vengeful propaganda targeting Turkey have been crumpled and thrown away. I sincerely congratulate Mr. President and our elected deputies. I wholeheartedly trust that the will of ‘Together we are Turkey’ will protect our stability and independence on May 28.” Future Party (GP) Chairman Ahmet Davutoglu said, “Although the margin was small, our people said no to the status quo and expressed their demand for change at the ballot boxes. Yes, we got your message.”