Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday was elected as the country’s first directly elected president

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday was elected as the country's first directly elected president, the head of Turkey's election commission said.

Sadi Guven said Sunday night that "it is understood that Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won an absolute majority of the votes." He said the official vote count would be announced Monday. The main opposition candidate, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, also conceded to Erdogan.

"I will not be the president of only those who voted for me, I will be the president of 77 million," Erdogan told thousands of cheering supporters Sunday night.

With more than 95% of ballots counted, Erdogan received nearly 52% of the vote, eliminating the need for a second round of voting, according to an unofficial tally by the state-run Anadolu news agency, which had reporters in vote counting centers across the country and declared Erdogan the winner.

Erdogan, 60, is barred from being prime minister for a fourth term.