Yılmaz received 258 votes out of 547. His only rival, Deniz Baykal of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), took 182 votes, apparently receiving support from both the CHP and the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
78 votes were invalid while 29 deputies cast blank votes.
Yılmaz and Baykal competed in the fourth and final round of voting after receiving the highest number of votes in the three previous rounds. The two other candidates,Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat of the HDP, were eliminated from the race after receiving 80 and 78 votes, respectively.
MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli announced earlier on Wednesday that MHP deputies will cast blank votes in the final round of voting unless the MHP candidate appears in the final round.
CHP leader Kemal KılıçdaroÄŸlu also poured cold water on prospects that his party would support the MHP candidate, saying the grounds for fielding a joint candidate with the MHP have disappeared.
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