Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that he will take Turkey into a “new era” when he assumes the presidency.

Mr Erdogan vowed to build a “new Turkey” and reconcile a divided country as he celebrated his victory in presidential elections.

The new president-elect has served as prime minister since 2003, a period in which he has sought to take a more assertive international position.

But his Islamist and authoritarian tendencies have alienated many in the country.

“Erdogan has become the first president directly elected by the people, after an unfair election process,” said the strongly secular Cumhuriyet daily.

The Erdogan victory was not the landslide many predicted but he managed to avoid a second round against opposition challenger Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.

Mr Erdogan won 51.74 per cent of the vote, Mr Ihsanoglu 38.46 per cent and Kurdish challenger Selahattin Demirtas 9.80 per cent.