ISTANBUL

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has congratulated Donald Trump on his apparent victory in Tuesday’s US elections.

"I congratulate my friend Donald Trump, who won the presidential election in the US after a great struggle and was reelected," Erdogan said on X Wednesday, referring to multiple media outlets projecting Trump’s return to the White House after four years under Joe Biden, the current president.

In this new era, Erdogan said he hopes Turkish-US relations grow stronger and that regional and global crises and wars, especially the one in Palestine and the Russia-Ukraine war, will come to an end.

"I believe that more efforts will be made for a fairer world. I hope the elections will be auspicious for the friendly and allied people of the US and all humanity," he added.

Trump is currently ahead of Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris in the race to reach 270 Electoral College votes, the number needed to become president, having racked up 267, according to The Associated Press.

Fox News has already declared him the victor, and Trump himself has hailed his “magnificent victory.”

The win would make Trump only the second US president to serve non-consecutive terms, following Grover Cleveland, who served two separate terms in the late 1800s, with ​​​​​​​President Benjamin Harrison in between.