President Sheikh Mohamed congratulates Turkish President on election process

Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces a run-off against Kemal Kilicdaroglu on May 28

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed has spoken by phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Crown Prince Court Abu Dhabi; Reuters

President Sheikh Mohamed has congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the "success of the electoral process" in his country, state news agency Wam reported on Thursday.

Mr Erdogan faces a run-off vote against rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu on May 28, after neither candidate reached the 50 per cent threshold in the first round. Mr Erdogan received 49.52 per cent of the vote.

During the phone call, Sheikh Mohamed said he hoped the elections would "serve the greater good of the Turkish people", Wam reported.

Several leaders from the region have spoken to Mr Erdogan since the vote, including Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim and Nechivran Barzani, President of Iraq's Kurdistan Region, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported.

On Wednesday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington was willing to work with whoever won the run-off election in Turkey.

"I believe that whoever prevails in the election, whether it’s the incumbent or whether it’s the challenger, that we will continue to work with Turkey on a range of issues, whether it’s on Ukraine, or regional issues in the Middle East," he said.

Turkey is a Nato ally and "that’s going to continue regardless of who the leader of Turkey is", Mr Sullivan said.

"They had a first round, they’ll have a second round, and we will be prepared to work with whoever is the winner of the election," he said.

Mr Erdogan – who performed better than was expected in the elections – is urging voters to support him in the presidential election run-off on May 28 to maintain stability in the country, as he tries to extend his rule into a third decade.

The People's Alliance, comprising Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its partners, won 322 of 600 seats in the new legislature, achieving a majority.

He says that voting for him will ensure stability and that Turkey needs harmony between parliament and presidency for functional governance.

“The strong presence of the People's Alliance in parliament also makes us stronger as the government. The harmony between the executive and the legislature would help development of our country,” he told CNN Turk.

A breakdown of the voting tallies showed the AKP came out on top, even in 10 of the 11 provinces hit by February's devastating earthquakes in Turkey, in which more than 50,000 people were killed and millions left homeless.

In Sunday's presidential vote, nationalist candidate Sinan Ogan came third with 5.2 per cent support. Eyes are now on how his supporters will vote on May 28.

In a possible boost to Mr Erdogan, Mr Ogan told Reuters on Monday that he would endorse Mr Kilicdaroglu in the run-off only if the latter ruled out any concessions to a pro-Kurdish party.

Separately, Mr Ogan told AFP he was open to dialogue but may take a few days to make up his mind about who – if anyone – to endorse.

“A decision will be made after talks with Mr Erdogan and Mr Kilicdaroglu,” he said.

“We may say we don't support either of them.”