Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to continue a balancing act between China and the West in his third five-year term, but observers say Beijing’s treatment of the Uygur minority in Xinjiang will remain a challenge for ties.

Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Erdogan after he beat opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu – who had promised a West-leaning foreign policy – in a run-off election on Sunday.

Xi said China and Turkey had “broad common interests” in his message to Erdogan on Monday.

Turkey goes to the polls Sunday in one of the most significant elections in the world this year, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan well placed to extend his hold on power.

He faces Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of an opposition coalition, who underperformed opinion poll projections in the first round on May 14.

“Erdoğan’s incumbency advantages allowed him to get ahead in the first round and the same advantages will help him get to the finishing line,” said Soner Çağaptay, director of the Turkish research program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk is facing a barrage of media criticism for acquiescing to demands from the Turkish government to censor content on the site. The acts of censorship took place last week, just days before the country's presidential election; unsurprisingly, the restricted accounts had expressed criticism of autocratic Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey's strongman President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan faced the strongest challenge to his 20-year rule Monday, failing to secure enough votes to stop a runoff with his opponent in a pivotal election for the powerful NATO member.

The vote was being closely watched from Washington and Brussels to Moscow and Beijing. Though Turkey is a NATO ally and holds elections, the country of 84 million has slipped further toward authoritarianism under Erdoğan and kept close ties with Russia.

The closely watched presidential election in Turkey will be decided by a runoff vote on May 28, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, each failed to capture an outright victory.

Preliminary results showed Erdogan won 49.5% of the vote, while Kilicdaroglu grabbed 44.9%, and the third candidate, Sinan Ogan, received 5.2%, according to Ahmet Yener, head of the Supreme Electoral Board.

Turkey is set for a second round of voting after neither President Recep Tayyip Erdogan nor his main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu were able to secure an outright majority in Sunday's presidential election, the country's electoral authority said.

Erdogan received 49.51% of the vote, while his main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, came in second at 44.88%, according to the figures.

The third presidential candidate, Sinan Ogan, a nationalist politician, finished third at 5.17%.

Tayyip Erdogan led comfortably on Monday after the first round of Turkey's presidential election, with his rival facing an uphill struggle to prevent the president extending his rule into a third decade in a runoff vote on May 28.

Turkish assets weakened on the news, which showed Erdogan just below the 50% threshold needed to avoid sending the NATO-member country to a second round of a presidential election viewed as passing judgment on his autocratic rule.

Millions of voters across Turkey cast their ballots Sunday in a crucial election pitting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, whose support by a broad coalition of opposition parties has left Erdogan more vulnerable to defeat than ever before, polls indicate.

Don't envy whoever wins Turkey's election this month. The victor could immediately be blown off course by strong economic headwinds. 

In the first decade of his 20-year rule, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rode an economic boom — driven in part by manufacturers and exporters from conservative Anatolian heartlands that supported his ruling AK Party — turning Turkey into one of the buzzing emerging markets to watch. Robust growth — averaging more than 7 percent annually between 2002 and 2007 — was once Erdoğan's proudest boast.