Tayyip Erdogan on track to win presidential election in Turkey
Istanbul: President Tayyip Erdogan had 55.88 per cent of the vote with 60 per cent of the votes counted in Turkey's presidential election on Sunday, boosting his hopes of extending his 15-year rule.
Muharrem Ince, the main opposition's presidential candidate, stood at 29 per cent nationwide, television channels said. If no candidate wins more than 50 per cent in Sunday's vote, a second round run-off will be held on July 8.
In the parliamentary contest, the AK Party had 47 per cent, based on 40 per cent of votes counted, broadcasters said. The CHP had 19 per cent and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) nine per cent.
Turnout nationwide was high at around 87 per cent for both contests, the state broadcaster said.
Sunday's vote ushers in a powerful new executive presidency long sought by Erdogan and backed by a small majority of Turks in a 2017 referendum. Critics say it will further erode democracy in the NATO member state and entrench one-man rule.
CHP party spokesman Bulent Tezcan criticised state media coverage of the election results, saying they were trying to manipulate the public's perception of the results in order to demoralise Erdogan's opponents and encourage election monitors to stop scrutinising the counting of votes.
Tezcan said the CHP's own voting tally suggested that support for Erdogan remained below the 50 per cent required to win the presidency in the first round.
Opposition parties and NGOs have deployed up to half a million monitors at ballot boxes to ward against possible electoral fraud. They have said election law changes and fraud allegations in the 2017 referendum raise fears about the fairness of Sunday's elections.
Reuters