Turkey's election commission has announced that incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the winner in the presidential runoff election.

Erdogan declared victory before his supporters on Sunday evening in Istanbul. He said, "I would like to thank each and every member of our nation who gave us the responsibility of governing the country for the next 5 years with the choice they made."

Erdogan was running against Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of a six-party opposition alliance.

Kilicdaroglu said, "I have a request from all of you, please keep the struggle for democracy alive for yourself, for your children, for the retirees, for our mothers and fathers, for our farmers and tradesmen."

The government-affiliated Anadolu news agency reported Erdogan got 52.16 percent of the vote, while his opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu received 47.84 percent with 99.85 percent of ballots counted.

Throughout the election campaign, Erdogan touted himself as the best choice for stability, highlighting his track record of 20 years as either prime minister or president.

He is also taking credit for a deal that he helped broker for Ukrainian farm products to be exported through the Black Sea.

However, his administration has been criticized for rising prices and delays in its initial response to the earthquakes in February.