Merkel vows to work ‘constructively’ with Erdoğan

Germany vowed on Monday to move forward in working constructively with the new government of Turkey, following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s historic election win on Sunday.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman said, they have taken note of the preliminary results, which showed that President Erdoğan won an absolute majority in the presidential election.

"We are looking forward to continuing a constructive, beneficial working relationship between German and Turkish governments," Steffen Seibert said.

He also noted that Chancellor Merkel would congratulate Turkish President Erdoğan at an appropriate time.

Early Monday morning, Turkey's Supreme Election Council announced that Erdoğan won an absolute majority in the presidential election.

With 99.6 percent of the ballot boxes opened, Erdogan is leading with 52.58 percent of the vote, while his closest rival Muharrem Ince lags behind at 30.64 percent.

In Sunday’s parliamentary polls, the People's Alliance -- a coalition of Erdogan's Justice and Development (AK) Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) -- won 53.6 percent of the vote, with 99.6 percent of the ballot boxes opened.