Kurdistan Region President attends Turkish President inauguration ceremony

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Saturday arrived in Ankara to attend the inauguration ceremony of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency.

In addition to the inauguration ceremony, President Barzani will also attend a dinner celebrating President Erdogan's swearing-in ceremony, the statement added.

In Turkey’s second round of presidential election voting held on May 28, Erdogan received 52 percent of the vote, while his main rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu received 48 percent of the vote. According to the Supreme Election Council of Turkey, 54.2 million citizens voted in the second round of the presidential election with a turnout of 84.2 percent.

Erdogan received 27.8 million votes in the second round, while Kilicdaroglu received 25.5 million votes. The Supreme Election Council of Turkey has officially approved the final results and sent them to the official state gazette for publication.

In the first round of the presidential election, Erdogan won 49.5 percent of the vote, Kilicdaroglu won 44.9 percent, and Ogan won 5.2 percent.

After the first round, Sinan Ogan withdrew from the election and endorsed Erdogan, encouraging his 2.8 million supporters to follow suit. Ogan gained support from Turkish nationalists throughout the election for his ultra-conservative views and made clear he would only support the side that distances itself from terrorism, referencing the alleged ties of Kilicdaroglu to the HDP.