More than 10 years ago when he was still Turkey's prime minister, he became the most senior non-African leader to visit Somalia - and won the hearts of millions when he visited a camp for displaced people.

At that time, Somalia was facing a severe drought, and Mr Erdogan's visit brought Somalia to the attention of the world.

Under his rule, Turkey’s government built one of the biggest hospitals in the capital, Mogadishu, which was named after him.

Turkey has also built a military base in Mogadishu, and is involved in the training of more than 20,000 Somali special forces.

"’We stand with Erdogan as he stood with Somalia during the difficult time. Praying and hoping for his victory,’’ Adam Hassan Salamiin said in a Facebook post, which summed up the views of many people.

Somalia has been hit by instability since the fall of long-serving ruler Siad Barre in 1991, and is currently battling an insurgency by militant Islamists.

Mr Erdogan will go head-to-head with his opposition rival in a run-off vote. Mr Erdogan led the first round with 49.51% of the vote, official results show.

Although he had a clear lead over his main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who polled 44.88%, he needed more than half the vote to win the race outright.