Opponents of Turkey's President have every reason to fear what comes next

President TrumpDonald John TrumpCohen's lawyers argue 12,000 items protected by attorney-client privilege: reports Former migrant detention facility worker leaks footage from inside facility to MSNBC Trump misidentifies Appalachian Trail as "Tallahassee Trail" while mocking Sanford MORE called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday to congratulate him on his election victory last weekend, Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said.

Mr Erdogan polled almost 53% in the most fiercely fought election in years.

He is loved by millions of devoutly Muslim working class Turks for delivering years of stellar economic growth and overseeing the construction of roads, bridges, airports, hospitals and schools.

Critics have condemned his previous authoritative measures including a crackdown on protests in 2013, which left 22 people dead.

One of the accelerators of that erosion was the failed coup attempt in the summer of 2016, which gave Erdogan the opportunity to crack down severely on dissent in the military, the universities, the judiciary, and in the press.

Mr. Erdoğan and the AKP claimed victory in Sunday's presidential and parliamentary elections after defeating a revitalised opposition that had gained considerable momentum recently and looked capable of staging an upset. The West, the European Union and the United States are the antagonists in Erdogan's narrative, and will continue to be so. Erdogan defeated his nearest rival Muharrem Ince with an "absolute majority" of more than half the vote without needing a second round.

The CHP's share of parliamentary votes, under the leadership of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, dropped by nearly 3 percentage points to 22.6 percent as compared to the results of the November 2015 elections.

Erdogan declared his victory with a tweet saying "Devam" ("continue"), a reference to the election campaign during which the word "enough" ("tamam") became a trending topic on Twitter after he promised to step down if the people wanted.

The Turkish president has controlled the country's politics for the past 15 years.

An executive presidential system approved by the April referendum now comes into effect. The office of prime minister will be abolished and all executive power will be transferred to Erdogan alone.

After conceding defeat, Ince called Erdogan's re-election "unjust" and warned citizens that the country was heading into a treacherous period of one-man rule, according to ABC News.

The HDP was polling 11.5 percent, well over the 10 percent minimum threshold needed, to win 67 seats which would make the party the second largest opposition faction in the new chamber.

Global observers criticized the election Monday, saying it took place on "uneven playing field" tilted in favour of Erdogan and his ruling party, which "enjoyed undue advantage, including in media". He faces 142 years in prison if convicted.

The president will also be allowed to freely intervene in the legal system and impose states of emergency.

Analysts said Ince's emergence signalled for the first time that there could be a credible alternative to Erdogan, surpassing current CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

The MHP takes a hard line on the Kurds, making it less likely that Mr. Erdoğan may soften his approach to security issues in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey and neighbouring Syria and Iraq, where Turkish forces are battling Kurdish militants.

The Turkish lira and stocks surrendered early gains, and economists said the outlook was uncertain.

"I will congratulate President Erdogan on his re-election as president".

Turkey's central bank defied Erdogan's advice against higher interest rates this month, halting the lira's slide briefly with a rate increase.

Both operations came after a year of intense terror attacks conducted by both PKK and its affiliates as well as Daesh in Turkey in 2016.

The new period after the election results is therefore expected to be more Turkey-centered and nationalistic, with a more favorable ground for Russian Federation to pull Ankara on its side against its transatlantic alliances with the USA and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, especially at a time when Turkey wants to buy F-35 jets from the U.S. and some lawmakers allegedly intend to block the sale. One has been freed.