Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan emerged victorious in the Turkish presidential elections on Sunday.Mr. Erdogan gathered 51.95% of the vote after 99 percent of the ballot boxes were counted. Opposition candidate Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, an academic and former diplomat, received 38.34%, followed by the third candidate Selahattin Demirtas with 9.71%. The favorable results for Mr. Erdogan came as no surprise with recent opinion polls placing him far ahead Ihsanoglu and Demirtas. both from the pro-Kurdish Democratic People’s Party (HDP).

Turks living in regions around Greece expected him to get over 44 percent of the votes according to opinion polls.

Following his win, despite the low turnout, Mr. Erdogan issued a message of unity in the speech he delivered from the balcony of his Justice and Development Party headquarters. “I will not be the president of only those who voted for me, I will be the president of 77 million,” he said.

“Today the national will won once again, today democracy won once again,” he told thousands of supporters who gathered to cheer his win. “Those who didn’t vote for me won as much as those who did, those who don’t like me won as much as those who do.”

Mr. Erdogan has been in power since 2003, but he is barred by party rules from seeking a fourth term as prime minister. He has been criticized for his authoritarian style, however his 11-year-rule was extended in March when the AKP triumphed at local elections.

Many fear that critics will have a harder time voicing their opposition in Mr. Erdogan’s “new Turkey”.