The results of last week's Turkish election runoff came in sooner than anticipated. By 7pm in Istanbul (4pm GMT), it was clear that incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had won another term in office with a little over 52 percent of the vote. A victory speech from the balcony of the presidential palace in Ankara was expected later in the evening when suddenly live broadcasts zoomed in on the 69-year-old Turkish leader standing before the throngs of supporters who had gathered in front of his home in Kisikli, Istanbul. Rather than deliver one of his trademark nationalistic speeches, he burst into song. The popular Turkish love song Duyanlara Duymayanlara ("For Those Who Can't Hear") is one he has used throughout his election campaign. But on the evening of 28 May, it carried a considerably more potent - and pointed - message. The consummate populist who has been in power for more than two decades proved his critics wrong: far from losing touch with the people, he recognised that when the going gets tough, appealing to Turkish hearts and minds through love songs can be more effective than citing dire economic statistics, hurling ad hominem attacks, or releasing damning sex tapes to eliminate opponents from the electoral race... Read more on Middle East Eye: Türkiye elections: How Erdogan proved his critics wrong [Middle East Eye, June 2, 2023]