FirstFT: Turkish Erdoğan declares victory in presidential elections

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Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yes victory declared in the Turkish presidential elections.

The unofficial results show that the veteran leader won over rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, although the ballots are still being counted.

Erdoğan had secured about 52% of the vote, compared to 48% for Kılıçdaroğlu, according to the state-run Anadolu News Agency, after more than 99% of the polls had been opened.

The results have not yet been confirmed by the Turkish electoral council.

A victory would launch Erdoğan’s rule into a third decade amid fierce opposition and a tense political and economic climate.

The lira hit an all-time low on Friday, while the country’s dollar bonds have been hit hard over the past two weeks and the costs of insuring against a debt default have soared.

Investors and economists say they are particularly concerned about a sharp decline in Turkey’s foreign exchange reserves, which has accelerated ahead of the first round of elections on May 14.

The opposition has warned that another five-year term for Erdoğan would send the country irreversibly on a path where democracy and human rights would be steadily eroded.

Here’s what I’m watching today:

• Closed banks: Many financial markets are closed today in the US, UK and other European nations for Memorial Day, the spring bank holiday and the Whit Sunday public holiday.

• Computers Computex Taipei: Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang and Arm CEO Rene Haas will deliver programmatic speeches today, ahead of the Computex technology conference in Taipei.

• Nigeria’s new president: Former Lagos state governor Bola Tinubu will be sworn in as Nigeria’s president after winning the country’s contested presidential election in February with 36.6 percent of the vote.

Five more top stories

1. Russia has launched a massive drone strike on Kiev, in what local officials have described as the the largest kamikaze drone attack since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of the country 15 months ago.

2. Europe’s green transition will be impossible without China, THE The Dutch trade minister warnedwhile the EU tries to untangle some of its economic dependence on the Asian powerhouse.

3. China’s first passenger plane completed its maiden commercial flight, in a symbolic moment for China’s technological independence after years of project delays

4. Republican leaders tried to put down a riot over a debt deal on Sunday, as both sides moved to sell their shares on a deal a prevent a looming US default.

5. Mike Lynch used $50 million of Darktrace stock pay his bail like him awaits trial for fraud in the United States. The billionaire founder of British software group Autonomy faces a criminal trial in California on 17 charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud.

The big read

Green hydrogen has a seductive appeal. Done right, the carbon-neutral energy source has the potential to penetrate many corners of the global economy and be instrumental in the fight against climate change. But there’s a problem. The FT has calculated that the supply of green hydrogen requires investment of $20 trillion by 2050 and, globally, we are only about 0.15% of the way through.

We are also reading. . .

• Lunch with the FT: Outgoing UK cyber intelligence chief Jeremy Fleming discusses Russia’s appetite for risk, China’s quest for technological supremacyand the James Bond effect with Roula Khalaf of the FT.

• Aging and work: Why do so many people believe that we get worse at our job as we get older? Pilita Clark asks. Here you are what are we doing wrong about aging and work.

• Vineyard Blues: In North Canterbury, New Zealand, a winery has been struck by nightmarish weather. Jancis Robinson explores the first visit to the vineyard that left her sad – and why.

Chart of the day

Citizens’ juries have become increasingly frequently used in recent decades. Introducing citizens directly into political processes could not only introduce public savvy into politics in a way that is complementary to elections of political leaders, but it might even help repair democracywrites Martin Wolf.

Take a break from the news

Deepfake voice clones have arrived and are going viral on social media. Intrigued by the AI-generated vocal copy, FT pop critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney embarked on an unlikely quest to replicate his favorite singer’s voice for the Weekend Essay. Follow and listen to his digital journey.

Additional contributions by Tee Zhuo and Emily Goldberg