TEHRAN- Finally, after many twists and turns, the 2023 elections in Turkey ended with a victory for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the unbeatable politician of Ankara, who will once again be hosted by the Bestepe palace for the next five years.

This round of presidential elections in Turkey has been the most unpredictable and tense one in the history of the country.

In this round of competition, we have practically witnessed a deep rift in Turkish society and politics and a confrontation between two different political discourses, namely Islamism and secularism.

However, it was somewhat unthinkable that Erdogan, this veteran Turkish politician, would be defeated. The reason for this is that despite all the economic crises and hardships of the post-earthquake Turkey, the president of the country is still considered a popular political figure in the country.

But the main question is what factors have been influential in Erdogan's victory and Kilicdaroglu's defeat?

First of all, it should be said that if this round of victory for Erdogan was hard-won and this year's elections were pushed to the second round it was not due to an increase in Kilicdaroglu's popularity, but rather because of economic recession and managerial weakness in handling the earthquake that hit the country in February.

But the most important reason for Kilicdaroglu's defeat against Erdogan again is his alliance with opposition leaders known as "National Alliance". Differences in approach and perspective among six opposing parties in this alliance were one of the most important factors in people's distrust towards Kilicdaroglu as a presidential candidate of the alliance. Because it was predicted that on election day there would be severe differences of opinion among these parties on how to manage the country, resulting in social conditions returning not towards development and progress but to pre-Erdogan Turkey. The silence of Ms. Meral Aksener, the leader of the Good Party, as a member of the National Alliance after the first round of elections showed a deep tremor within the alliance, which was enough to make National Alliance supporters also disappointed about a victory by Kilicdaroglu.

The second reason can be examined in the attention of people to the issue of survival and security regarding the economy; Erdogan's critics, including parties and journalists, have tried to question Erdogan's management and his team's approach to the economy by resorting to attack and criticism in the past two years, in order to provide a platform for his defeat in the elections. They were able to attract a significant percentage of the society, but this was not enough for Erdogan's defeat. Because the issue that Erdogan was able to instill in public opinion was the importance of security and survival of the country against external threats. When Ankara officials linked the elections to the issue of survival and said that these elections were related to the country's survival, they insilled this fear among public that if Erdogan and his affiliated party were defeated, there is a possibility of endangering stability and security of the country, as well as ending Turkey's survival. Erdogan's victory shows that despite people's dissatisfaction with the country's economic conditions, security is by far the most important component for Turkish people.

The third reason is Erdogan's continued popularity among Islamist and traditionalist groups; this group has great importance for Erdogan and is actually his most important asset for continuing his political life. For this reason, in recent years, Erdogan has made every effort to have this Islamic group on his side. Therefore, a significant part of Erdogan's speeches are always focused on topics that interest this group. For example, at the end of his speeches, Erdogan always prays "Oh God! Do not let our minarets be without adhan (call for prayer) and our country without a flag." This is exactly what creates patriotism and Islamic devotion among traditionalist groups. This group who suffered many hardships due to their religious beliefs and observance of hijab during previous periods and see Erdogan as their savior and prefer him to remain as their leader in Turkey's current situation.

In the midst of it all, the progress made in the industrial sector during the reign of the Justice and Development Party should not be forgotten as the fourth factor in Erdogan's victory. For example, the production and export of Bayraktar drones and the all-around support of the current Turkish government for Baykar Company are considered a national honor for Turkey. This issue was like a winning card that media close to Erdogan focused on in recent years to create a nationalist sentiment that these advancements would not be achieved with another party coming to power. Additionally, Haluk Bayraktar, CEO of Baykar company, always expressed concern about the possibility of Erdogan leaving and his impact on his company's operations.

However, one can analyze the reason for Erdogan's victory in his foreign policy approach; Erdogan prioritized a policy based on balance with regional and Western governments as part of his strategic policies. Despite having established favorable relations with European governments, Turkey's president also paid attention to his country's relations with regional governments in the Persian Gulf area.

Erdogan's only mistake in foreign policy was to destroy relationship with Syria and trying to heal the rift several months before the elections. But this issue did not affect his vote count. Of course, Erdogan did not miss an opportunity to criticize his opponents by resuming Ankara's relations with Abu Dhabi and Riyadh. Ankara's efforts as an influential player in the Russia-Ukraine war and his mediation for grain agreements have also been among Erdogan's foreign policy achievements over the past two years. Perhaps some of Erdogan's regional policies and approaches were not favored by other governments, but this type of policy has been popular and desirable for Turkish citizens.

It must be said that the biggest error of Ekrem Imamoglu was in his candidacy. Erdogan knew well that if his rival was Imamoglu, he could defeat him. That's why before the elections, every time he addressed him in his speeches, he said, "Oh, Ekrem Imamoglu, if you're telling the truth, be a presidential candidate yourself."

Erdogan is still recognized as a charismatic political figure in Turkish society and global community, and although Imamoglu tried to defeat him by forming alliances with other parties and creating a front against Erdogan, he has not yet achieved the same political credibility as Erdogan. Imamoglu fell for the deception of polls conducted by Turkish and foreign election institutions and became excited about the premature prediction of "certain victory" and entered the election campaign while having previously experienced defeat against Erdogan. Perhaps that's why these days in Turkey he is called "a man who doesn't get tired of losing."

Considering the issues mentioned above, it can be said that finally Erdogan was able to secure his victory in the election round by obtaining Sinan Ogan's support, a representative of the ATA coalition (in the first round of elections), to once again enter the Presidential Palace with a six-horse carriage.