Ruling AKP set to win majority in Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan casts his vote at a polling station in Istanbul on Sunday. — AP

Turkey’s long-dominant Justice and Development Party (AKP) was poised to win back a clear parliamentary majority on Sunday, according to latest results from one of the country’s most critical elections in years.

The party founded by strongman President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had around 51 per cent of the vote with more than 80 per cent of ballots counted, CNN-Turk television reported.

That would give it 325 seats in the 550-seat Parliament, well ahead of its three main rival parties and easily enough to form a government on its own.

Opinion polls had predicted a replay of the June election when the AKP won just 40 per cent of the vote and lost its majority for the first time in 13 years.

Turks voted in large numbers, with the country deeply polarised in the face of the renewed Kurdish violence and a wave of bloody jihadist attacks along with mounting concerns about democracy and the faltering economy.

If confirmed, the result would be a significant victory for 61-year-old Mr Erdogan, who is hoping to expand his powers as president and continues to play a dominant role in Turkish politics.

During the election campaign, Mr Erdogan said only he and his loyal Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu could guarantee security, criss-crossing the country with the message: “It’s me or chaos.”