Turkish leader hails big election victory

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hailed a big victory for his ruling party in parliamentary elections and demanded the world respect the result.

The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, secured a stunning victory in Sunday’s snap parliamentary election, sweeping back into single-party rule only five months after losing it.

With all of the ballots counted, the preliminary results showed that the party won more than 49% of the votes. It was projected to get 317 seats in the 550-member parliament, restoring the party’s single-party majority that it had lost in June.

The Turkish lira was up about 4% against the dollar, while the main stock index rallied 5.5% as investors cheered the result, which ends a period of political uncertainty.

“The whole world must show respect. So far I haven’t seen such a maturity from the world,” Erdogan said after attending prayers at a mosque and visiting his parents’ graves.

It was an apparent reference to Western media’s often critical coverage of AKP’s policies, including the party’s backsliding on democratic reforms and moves to muzzle critical voices.

Erdogan had called for a new election after prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu failed to form a coalition with any of the three opposition parties in parliament after the June vote.

The election was held amid renewed violence and Erdogan and Davutoglu argued that only a single-party majority could restore stability.