Istanbul - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to power in 2002, was elected 12th president of Turkey in the first round of the first ballot in the country's history by direct universal suffrage.
In a brief speech at the headquarters of his party, the new president thanked his supporters in Istanbul for their support, saying that he is the president of all Turks.