LIVE BLOG: Turkey heads to polls to elect new parliament
- More than 53 million Turkish citizens are expected to vote on new parliament
- The strength of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party after this Sunday’s parliamentary elections lies in the hands of a brand new pro-Kurdish party.
- A big win for the AKP could allow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to centralise presidential powers and push for the "New Turkey".
- A poor showing could force the party into a coalition government, a scenario that proved disastrous for the country in the 1990s.
Live Updates
While many exit polls show the pro-Kurdish HDP has come very close to the 10% threshold required for the party to be represented in parliament, some show the party has indeed surmounted that hurdle.
It will be another few hours until initial results of the election are in.
Our live blog is now closed, but follow our website for updates and analysis of the results.
Two polls, cited by Hurriyet, are showing dramatically different results as over 50% reportedly counted:
As reporting restrictions still apply, the parties cannot be named yet.
Anadolu Agency:
Cihan news agency:
Less than two hours after polling stations for Turkey's parliamentary elections closed, local newspaper Yeni Safak starts publishing exit polls.
The polls show AKP is in the lead.
As polls close for Sunday's elections, MEE's reporter Mat Nashed in Diyarbakir spoke via phone saying that the atmosphere is relatively calm, but expects tensions to rise following the results later this evening, with clashes to be expected between the HDP and the police should they fail to reach the 10% theshold needed to enter parliament:
As Turks head to the poll for their country's parliamentary elections on the 7th of June, Middle East Eye's reporter in Turkey spoke to supporters of the left-wing, pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party about why they are lending their support to the party and its figurehead Selahattin Demirtas.
At 17:00 local time, polling stations close and the vote counting begins.
Despite strong campaigns led by oppostion parties, many voters are still supportive of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Although the situation is currently calm in the southeastern provinces of Turkey, many expects protests and possible violence to erupt if HDP doesn't pass the threshold.
After a cat was blamed for widespread power blackouts that disrupted vote-counting during last year's presidential elections, Turkey's energy minister Taner Yildiz said such incidents will not be repeated.
"The power lines are monitored by helicopters, a total of 16,000 staff work to ensure there are no power cuts," the Daily Sabah reported Yildiz as saying.
Shane Farrell, currently in Turkey covering the elections for MEE, spoke via phone about the atmosphere in the country and the feeling at the polling stations.
Six people have been arrested over incidents during an election rally held by Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtas on 4 June in the eastern province of Erzurum, reported the Hurriyet Daily News.
Taşkesen, who resides in the Karapınar village and works in the Tekman district in Erzurum, was reported to be in serious condition.
Four others were also arrested after they were seen brandishing knives in video footage published on social media and several media outlets.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), has won every single election - presidential, legislative, and municipal - without serious opposition since first coming to power in 2002.
Many analysts however do not expect the party to score the same success in this year's general elections.
Find out why here.
The supporters of Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan turned against AKP in 2013 when an open political battle between the former allies broke a decade-long AKP-Gulenist alliance.
According to Turkish journalist and political commentator Ceren Kenar, many Gulenists may vote for the pro-Kurdish HDP to stop AKP's ambition for a presidential system.
“All of a sudden, Kurdish demands became plausible for the opposition. Kemalists and Gulenists who accused AKP of selling out Turkey to the Kurds two years ago are now voting for the Kurdish party,” said Kenar.