Turkish presidential candidate Ekhmeleddin Ihsanoglu, who was backed by the two main opposition parties, has conceded defeat to Recep Tayyip Erdogan.<br /><br />After Erdogan declared victory, Ihsanoglu addressed his supporters in Istanbul.<br /><br />“Dear friends, we got around 39-40 percent of the vote. This is a very important percentage because when we started the campaign a month ago, many (people) were saying, ‘Ihsanoglu is not known and he doesn’t know about politics’,” Ihsanoglu said.<br /><br />He then congratulated Erdogan and wished him success as president.<br /><br />Three-time prime minister Erdogan will have to step down from that post and appoint a replacement.
