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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Matthew Weaver

Turkey election: Erdoğan’s AKP wins outright majority – as it happened

Supporters of Justice and Development Party (AKP) celebrate after hearing the early results of the general elections in front of the party’s office in Istanbul. The results are a huge boost for the party’s founder President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Supporters of Justice and Development Party (AKP) celebrate after hearing the early results of the general elections in front of the party’s office in Istanbul. The results are a huge boost for the party’s founder President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photograph: Deniz Toprak/EPA

With most of the votes now counted, we’ll wrap up this liveblog. Here’s a summary of the election and its aftermath.

A Turkish news agency says one person has been wounded by gunfire during isolated clashes that broke out in a mainly Kurdish city in southeast Turkey as preliminary election results were released.

According to the Associated Press, the private Dogan news agency says the minor was seen being driven to a hospital in an ambulance Sunday.

Figen Yuksekdag
Figen Yuksekdag Photograph: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

The co-leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said the outcome of Turkey’s general election was the result of a deliberate policy of polarisation by President Erdoğan, Reuters reports.

Figen Yuksekdag told a news conference in Ankara that the HDP would analyse in a detail a drop in its support since the last parliamentary election in June, but said the fact the party had crossed the 10% threshold needed to enter parliament was nonetheless a success.

(We’re going to pause the blog for now, but my colleague Kevin Rawlinson will keep you posted on any major developments. And there will be more reaction and analysis on our Turkey section).

Updated

The atmosphere in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir is one of anger and disappointment, writes Constanze Letsch.

The leftist, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic party (HDP) lost points in many provinces in Turkey, including in the metropolis where the party lost one seat to the AKP.

Protesters clashed with the police close to the HDP headquarters while votes were still being counted, with police using water cannon and teargas.

In a small teahouse close to the party headquarters, several men silently watched election result being counted on television.

“I cannot believe this,” said one retired teacher of 59. “I feel heartbroken. [The AKP] steals and kills, they put pressure on everyone, they muzzle the press, but they still win. I have lost faith in this democracy.”

With 95% of votes counted, the AKP won almost 50% of all votes, according to the state news agency Anadolu. The main opposition Republican People’s party (CHP) stood at 25.2 percent, smashing all possibilities of a coalition government. The HDP scraped over the unusually high threshold of 10% with 10.6 percent of all votes, down from 13% in the 7 June election.

Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu lauded the unexpected electoral success as a victory for democracy.

Close to the square of the local court in Diyarbakir, where votes were counted, a group of women, all of whom had stood watch at ballot boxes throughout the day, expressed their anger over incoming results.

“We all knew that [the AKP] would win again,” said Hatice, 50, the head of a small cosmetics company in Diyarbakir. “Why else did [Turkish president Recep Tayyip] Erdogan insist despite everything on snap elections? Now we are afraid that the pressure will increase.”

Another woman was worried about the possibility of more support for Erdoğan by the European Union.

“In the past, us Kurds put all our hopes into the help and the support of Europe. Who will stand by us if they abandon us now to stand only behind Erdogan?” asked Türkan, a 37-year-old housewife.

Others were more critical of the HDP.

“This shows that the party needs to ask itself how these bad results could have happened, said one shop owner.

The streets of Diyarbakir, alive with celebration only a few months ago, were shrouded in silence on Sunday night, with a whiff of teargas still in the air.

Protesters are seen during minor clashes with police forces in Diyarbakir, in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast.
Protesters are seen during minor clashes with police forces in Diyarbakir, in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP

Updated

HDP passes election threshold

The Leftist pro-Kurdish HDP has surmounted the 10% threshold it needed to secure seats in the new parliament.

Davutoglu hails 'Day of Victory'

Prime minister Davutoglu hailed the AKP’s win as a “day of victory”, AFP reports.

Reuters has more from the speech.

“Today is a victory for our democracy and our people,” Davutoglu told a crowd of cheering AKP supporters outside his home in the central Anatolian city of Konya, a ruling party stronghold.

“Hopefully we will serve you well for the next four years and stand in front of you once again in 2019,” he said, referring to Turkey’s next general election in four years time.

Davutoglu is expected to make a broader policy speech at his party headquarters in the capital Ankara later on Sunday.

Updated

Jubilant crowds chanted in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, waving Turkish and AKP flags, shouting “God is great” and condemning Israel as election results came in indicating a major party victory, distributing sweets and singing party songs, writes Kareem Shaheen in Ankara.

AKP supporter
AKP supporter Photograph: Kareem Shaheen

“I support the AKP for Syria, for Palestine, for Egypt, for the little babies drowning in the Aegean sea,” said Murat Savas, an AKP supporter sporting a scarf bearing the visage of Erdogan.

Voters here said their victory in the elections was a powerful response to Erdogan’s critics and detractors, and said they had confidence the AKP would be able to resolve the country’s recent security problems and deal with terrorism, saying he would crush the outlawed PKK.

They also said Erdogan’s victory would secure Turkey’s role as a regional power fighting against oppression in the Middle East.

“It’s hard for me to express my feelings because of my excitement,” said Unal Cakmak, a voter who arrived to celebrate the electoral victory. “AKP winning means a win for Palestine, Syria, Egypt, for the whole Middle East and the Muslim world.”

“Recep Tayyip Erdogan took Turkey 100 years forward and changed it for the better, and brought peace and we want him to stay in power,” he added. “We are fed up with Europe. Our leader is Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”

AKP backers condemned foreign powers for allegedly trying to undermine Erdogan and for what they said was the sponsorship of militants determined to destabilize the country. They also criticised the West for failing to help Turkey deal with a massive refugee crisis that has seen 2 million Syrians flee the violence in their country and seek safe haven in Turkey.

“Turkey today has decided to take charge of its fate and its future,” said Orhan Ozsari, another supporter. “We aren’t thinking just of Turkey but the whole world. Turkey fights for the oppressed. The world is full of cruelty and Turkey will change that.”

A live feed from the AKP’s headquarters in the central Anatolian city of Konya (shown at the top of the blog) shows Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu waving at supporters. He’s about to make a victory speech.

Updated

At least two thousand AKP supporters have gathered at the party’s HQ’s in Ankara, writes Kareem Shaheen.

They waiting for an expected balcony victory speech, as more people arrive.

Supporters of Justice and Development Party (AKP) celebrate after hearing the early results of the general elections in front of the party’s headquarters in Ankara.
Supporters of Justice and Development Party (AKP) celebrate after hearing the early results of the general elections in front of the party’s headquarters in Ankara. Photograph: STR/EPA

A man prepares to throw back a tear gas fired by Turkish riot police during clashes Kurdish protesters in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir.
A man prepares to throw back a tear gas fired by Turkish riot police during clashes Kurdish protesters in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. Photograph: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images

AFP has images of those clashes in Diyarbakir. It confirms that Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon at Kurdish activists who were protesting after the election delivered a clear victory to the AKP.

The clashes erupted outside the headquarters of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in the main Kurdish city of in southeastern Turkey.

AFP’s photographer said gunshots were heard but it was not immediately known if there were any casualties.

There are fears of a return to all-out war between the Turkish state and rebels from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) after tit-for-tat violence shattered a fragile 2013 ceasefire.

A masked protester runs past rubbish bins set on fire by supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’s Democratic Party (HDP) in Diyarbakir.
A masked protester runs past rubbish bins set on fire by supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’s Democratic Party (HDP) in Diyarbakir. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP

Davutoglu praises victory

Erdogan loyal prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu has declared victory with single word tweet.

CNN Turk translates.

Here’s video of police using water cannon against those protesting at the result in Diyarbakir.

Anger is mounting in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, Constanze Letsch reports.

But AKP supporters have been dancing with joy.

Here’s the Guardian’s first news report on the results.

Clashes between the police and protesters broke out in front of the HDP headquarters, writes Constanze Letsch in Diyarbakir.

The violence came after the preliminary results showed a clear lead for the ruling Justice and Development, or AKP. Security forces used teargas and water cannon against protesters throwing stones. The atmosphere in the predominantly Kurdish metropolis was tense as votes are still being counted. Early projections showed a substantial drop in votes for the HDP. With almost 95% of all votes counted, the AKP could improve their vote count in Diyarbakir, and increase the numbers of local delegates to two, up from one on the elections on 7 June.

Updated

An outright win by the AKP was not predicted by pollsters and pundits as some have the grace to admit. The polls were all pointing to a hung parliament.

Clashes in Diyarbakir

There have been clashes in Turkey’s main Kurdish city of Diyarbakir.

The police fire teargas at stone-throwing protesters according to Reuters.

Confirmation, if any were needed, of Erdogan’s big win comes in a telling stat picked out by Bloomberg’s Benjamin Harvey.

The AKP has secured three million more votes than it did in June, with 10% still to count.

Meanwhile the HDP looks set to just hang on to its 10% threshold, according to the latest projection from CNN Turk.

AKP supporters have been celebrating with anti-Israeli chants at the party’s HQ in Ankara.

The Turkish presidency has put out a picture of a beaming Erdoğan.

A senior figure in the opposition CHP has conceded that the AKP is set to secure a majority government, according to Daily Sabah.

AKP supporters gather at the party’s HQ in Ankara
AKP supporters gather at the party’s HQ in Ankara Photograph: Kareem Shaleen

AKP supporters are starting to celebrate at the party’s headquarters in Ankara, writes Kareem Shaheen.

Hundreds of supporters are gathering at the AKP’s offices to celebrate what appears to be a likely victory in the polls. There is a huge security cordon around the area and people are waving AKP and Turkey flags and chanting “Allahu akbar” and “in the name of Allah”.

They were also booing the press and chanting support for Erdoğan.

“The world should realise the value of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the entire world,” said Hatice Tapan, a supporter in front of the building. “If only they knew him in person.”

“Turkey today has decided to take charge of its fate and its future,” said Orhan Ozsari, another supporter. “We aren’t thinking just of Turkey but the whole world. Turkey fights for the oppressed. The world is full of cruelty and Turkey will change that.

Another AKP voter said she was happy with the social services provided by the party.

“We were saddened by the previous results and are now happy that people can see,” she said.

Updated

The results looks set to represent a triumph for Erdoğan after his setback of losing the AKP’s majority in June. Analysts are praising his political skill.

A senior official from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP opposition said the partial results from Sunday’s general election were “disappointing”, but that the party still expected to clear the 10% threshold to enter parliament, Reuters reports.

Partial results broadcast by state-run TRT television put the HDP on 10.2%, with just over 80 percent of votes counted.

Others aren’t so sure the HDP will make it.

Updated

The HDP could yet secure the 10% threshold need for parliamentary representation, CNN’s latest projection predicts.

But the AKP majority no longer seems in doubt.

Updated

Anadolu: 'AKP clinches major victory'

The state news agency Anadolu has called the result for the AKP saying Erdoğan’s party has clinched a “major victory”.

The AKP may even secure 330 of 550 seats it needs to call a referendum to put changes to the constitution to a popular vote. Such changes would involve granting more executive powers to the president.

Much depends on whether the HDP has done enough to hold on to the 10% threshold it needs to secure parliamentary representation.

As more results come there is now some doubt about whether it will surmount that hurdle.

The latest projection from CNN Turks predicts that it won’t.

But the state news agency suggests that it will.

The AKP is on track for a parliamentary majority, AFP reports.

The party founded by President Erdoğan had won 51.8% of the vote with 52% of the ballot boxes counted, CNN-Turk television reported.

Opinion polls had predicted a replay of the June election when the AKP won just 40% of the vote.

The AKP projected win is being more widely accepted.

Higher pensions, promises to tackle youth unemployment, and a commitment to increasing the minimum wage and setting a maximum 40 hour working week, were at the centre of the Republican People’s party’s (CHP) election manifesto in June. Some people, particularly Kurds and the religiously conservative, view these pledges as elitist.

Carmen Fishwick spoke to CHP voters in Turkey, about why they supported the AKP’s main opposition, and Turkey’s oldest political party.

Cem, 18, Istanbul

Turkey is damaged in many ways: broken politics, economy, social dynamics. I trust the CHP the most with the much needed restoration of these values. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the CHP, is a sensible, smart person who has policies which can help get this country out of this seemingly unsolvable mess as it is today.

Might be worth noting: I very much like HDP’s policies as well, maybe even more than CHP’s but I haven’t voted for them because I don’t think they’re as innocent as they make themselves out to be if that makes sense. PKK’s a strong force, and I believe that it’s nearly impossible for HDP to be strictly independent from PKK. While I do recognize the Kurdish problem, I condemn PKK and its actions. Any affiliation with them is unacceptable.

I strongly think the current AKP government’s policies and governing is purposefully aimed at breaking Turkey and splitting its people far apart from each other at this point. I don’t have an opinion, or care, about Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s aims to drag the country to what it is today, but right now, he does not act with any regard to Turkey as a country. He’s trying to save his ass by destroying everything.

Turkey

Ece Uçar, Ankara

The Republican People’s party (CHP), if we go by their campaign, are committed to economic development. As a teenager, I am concerned about my future, and the future of the country. Their manifesto makes me feel more hopeful.

I’m actually a supporter of the Liberal Democrats, but electoral threshold leads me to vote for the mainstream opposition party, the CHP. They also have a strong set of policies created by university members.

The other parties’ main points and policies are about secularism which make no real sense to voters in Turkey.

Erdal, Istanbul

The CHP is the only party which wants to implement EU standards in Turkey. We desperately need liberty, rule of law, equality to all citizens, freedom of speech and freedom of press. I believe CHP will provide these to all citizens. I want a better future for my daughter, and Turkey will only develop if we have true democracy.

For the last few years, the AKP government has moved away from all the promises it made in 2002. Economy, democratic standards, rule of law, foreign policy and domestic policy have been off the track. Corruption is everywhere. We cannot go on like this!

Yeşilgreen, Izmir

I am voting for the CHP because, generally, they are forward thinking and uphold the principles of Atatürk. Regardless, the best and only choice for this country is to vote against the AKP.

The educated liberal society that once backed Erdoğan’s reforms have finally seen through him. Even though his name is not on the ballot, and as the president he must stay impartial, his fingers are stretching out all over Turkish society – strangling free speech, arresting anyone that dare speak up against him. Turkey must be the only country in the world where terrorists bomb the opposition and not the governing party! Everyday people become more scared to speak out, more scared to use social media for fear of arrest.

We all know that even if the AKP do not obtain a majority, Erdoğan will still find a way to have total power in this country. Who knows what steps he will take.

Updated

More analysts are cautiously predicting an AKP win.

But Bloomberg’s Mark Bentley cautions that the results are skewed by early result from the east where the AKP is stronger.

Turkey’s ruling AK Party may be on track to win back its parliamentary majority and form a government alone, according to partial results from a general election on Sunday broadcast by state-run TRT television, Reuters reports.

With almost half of votes counted, the AKP was on 53.2%of the vote. The main opposition CHP was on 20.7%, while the nationalist MHP and pro-Kurdish HDP were both on 11.0%, just above the 10% threshold needed to enter parliament, TRT said.

Warning: The results could still change significantly, with counting not yet completed in the country’s largest cities.

With up to half of the votes counted the AKP’s success appears to be confirmed.

Treat this with caution but more early result appear to confirm that the AKP is on course to secure a majority.

The AKP appears to have gained at the expense of the opposition nationalists MHP.

Former CHP MP Aykan Erdemir reports predictions of rival MHP losses.

Updated

HDP headquarters in Ankara
HDP headquarters in Ankara Photograph: Kareem Shaleen

HDP volunteers have begun gathering at the party’s headquarters in Ankara which has been the scene of attacks in the past, writes Kareem Shaheen.

There’s a security presence in the area and most of the party cadres are in polling stations to monitor the counting. They have expressed fears of irregularities or problems with the counting.

When asked why they support the HDP, nany of the volunteers, repeat the mantra that they believe they the Leftish party help bring peace to the country through representing a wide swath of Turkish society.

Safiye, an HDP volunteer on the scene, said: “This party is inclusive, it’s for everybody. I am hopeful and I want to be hopeful.”

“In this country we want certain ideas to take hold like equality, justice and peace,” said Omur, another volunteer. “The priority is peace.”

The HDP volunteers said they were optimistic that the party would increase its share of the votes, and said they wanted the AKP out of power to “end dictatorship and the one leader idea.”

“It’s very important for democracy,” said Safiye.

Early results suggest a big win for Erdoğan’s AKP. According to state media the AKP has secured more than 56% of the vote, with 22% of the ballots counted. The main losers appear to be the Nationalist CHP with only15% and the HDP holding on to the 13% it secured in June. But these early results should be treated with a great deal of caution.

Ignore the early results for the next hour warns analyst Zeynep Tufekci.

Updated

State broadcaster TRT has confirmed reports of a high turn out. It predicts an 86% turnout based on a sample of 8.6% of the vote, according to JamesinTurkey.com.

Vote counting in Ankara
Vote counting in Ankara Photograph: Kareem Shaheen

Kareem Shaheen has been observing the count at a school turned polling station in Cankaya in central Ankara.

The majority of voters here feel the country is not headed in the right direction and the time has come for a coalition government.

“We should move away from the hegemony of a single person,” said Aydin Yasar, a local mukhtar or mayor in the area. “I’ve been here for 20 years and have never seen so many people wanting change.”

“This is the end of the single party period,” said one female voter who asked to be identified as a Turkish citizen.

Ahmet Yilidirim, a voter who supports the nationalist MHP, said he was in favour of a coalition government that brings together the MHP and the AKP and whose mandate is to destroy the outlawed PKK as well as raise pensions and improve the economy.

His comments show the success of the AKP’s strategy of targeting nationalist voters and appealing to them through its recent tough stance towards the PKK.

Turnout up?

There are reports of a high turnout, amid speculation that this could be damaging for the AKP.

Aykan Erdemir a former MP for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) reckons turn up is up June’s election.

There has been confirmation of the turnout figure but predictions that it could be close to 90%.

A useful map from TRT World reminds of us June’s result.

Voters in Turkey have been sharing their thoughts and hopes for the election, writes Carmen Fishwick.

Here supporters of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) tell us why they’re voting for the leftist group. The HDP entered parliament for the first time in June, and was the main reason Erdoğan’s Islamic­ conservative Justice and Development party (AKP) fell short of an outright majority for the first time since it took power in 2002.

Duygu Durmaz, Istanbul

Turkey

I had long voted for CHP but voted for HDP in the last election, and will this time . My family supports the CHP, including my eighty-year-old grandmother, with whom I live. Most of my friends vote for either HDP or CHP.

I support HDP because it is the only minor party with the potential to pass the undemocratic 10% threshold, which is currently the only way to avoid the formation of a one-party government by AKP. As we saw in the last election, AKP could not form the government by itself thanks to HDP’s victory.

I believe the HDP has the potential to change the dynamics of Turkish politics in favour of a more democratic future. HDP has its roots in the Kurdish movement; however, it is gradually becoming a party embracing everyone who supports freedom, human rights and all other democratic values.

I hope for a bright future for everyone. I believe the priority should be fighting corruption and nepotism in Turkey. Another important move would be lowering the threshold for a better representation of people. I genuinely think it is only possible with a future social democratic cooperation, even though it seems quite unlikely for the time being considering HDP and CHP must have 276 deputies in total for such a coalition.

Ekin Ezgi Emiroğlu, Ankara

Turkey

I’m voting HDP, as I did in June. I am a law school student and I want to believe that AKP will lose its power so that we can refine the law system. I am hopeful about democracy and justice.

HDP has the right to be in the parliament after all the years they’ve struggled with terrorism and violence. They represent the Kurdish people in Turkey and it is a necessity for Turkey to have members of parliament who defines the problems that Kurdish people have in their harsh lives.

My father and my mother are going to vote for CHP strategicly. In our neighbourhood, it is impossible for HDP to have a person in parliament. For this reason they want to support CHP and make the AKP lose a member of parliament.

The government’s performance recently has been a failure. In recent months, Turkish Lira became valueless against the US dollar and Euro. This issue made merchants desperate and economy has been badly affected.

Updated

The results should begin to emerged over the next two to three hours. Elections observers are watching closely.

Polls close

The polls have closed now in all areas of the country. Let the count begin.

Updated

Not long now. The countdown to the polls closing has begun.

Polls have already closed in 32 cities in the east of the country. They will stay open for the next 15 minutes or so for the remainder of the country.

Counting is underway in Diyarbakir, Constanze Letsch reports.

Meanwhile there are reports in of violence at a polling station in a town near Istanbul after an AKP supporter ripped up a voting envelope of an HDP supporter. A fight broke out between both camps and teargas was used according to a report in local media.

Updated

The Turkish media have been reflecting their various part allegiances in their treatment of the vote, writes Kareem Shaheen.

The frontpage of the dissident daily Cumhurityet declares polling day the “the last day of the Sultanate” in reference to Erodağan’s ambitions.

But the front page of the pro-Erdogan daily Milliyet’s says “they passed over trenches and voted” above a picture from Diyarbakir, suggesting that PKK militants have been coming out to vote in favour of the HDP.

Very few AKP voters have been willing to talk to journalists in the Dikmen a southern neighbourhood of the capital Ankara, writes Kareem Shaheen.

It’s a mixed middle class area where many of the voting booths carry posters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish republic. A steady stream of people from all backgrounds have been casting their votes. Most seem to be backing the opposition Republican People’s party (CHP) which came second in June’s election with 132 seats.

Turkish voter Samet
Turkish voter Samet Photograph: Kareem Shaheen

After casting his vote Samet, a 29-year-old writer, said: “There has to be a change in perspective, redefining Turkey in a more progressive way.”

Seniz Nebioplu (left)
Seniz Nebioplu (left) Photograph: Kareem Shaheen

Another voter, Seniz Nebioplu, is a fierce opponent of Erdoğan. She said: “(AKP) are thieves and they are taking the country backwards. They want to bring Sharia law into the country and they abuse religion emotionally. It’s a sin in Islam to steal other people’s rights.”

Sahin Azizoglu agreed. “It’s a fascist party, anything is better than the AKP,” he said.

Nesim said he would be voting for HDP “for peace and humanity”.

He said: “They have people from different backgrounds and religions. Because we don’t want a dictatorship. Selahattin Demirtas is a strong leader and one day he will lead the world.”

The AKP has more support in the outskirts and suburbs of the capital.

One elderly voter in Dikmen did say was voting for the AKP, but would give his name. “At the moment the party in power is the one that would do best,” he said.

But his wife disagreed and will not vote for AKP because of its record on the economy. She says pensions and public sector wages need to be raised and unemployment dealt with. “We have 8 million university graduates without jobs,” she said.

Turkey goes to the polls amid violence and fears of a recession, writes Constanze Letsch in Diyarbakir.

Over the summer the Turkish government willingly abandoned peace talks with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK). The talks had been under way since 2012 to try to end a bloody conflict that has killed 40,000 people since it began in 1984. Hundreds more were killed on both sides in the ensuing violence

Polls indicate that the Leftist Kurish People Democratic Party (HDP) will easily overcome the 10% threshold today, paving the way for new rounds of coalition talks if the AKP fails again to win a majority.

In another ballot station in Sur, Yakub Mogulgani, 27, and his wife Gülbahar have cast spoiled ballots to votes to protest against the policies of both the ruling AKP and the leftist pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic party (HDP).

“I don’t feel represented by either of them,” he said. “The religiously conservative have been ignored by all parties here.” He added that he felt excluded by the election programme of the HDP. “They say they defend gays and lesbians, and others, but they don’t defend us. Why not?”

On June 7 Mogulgani voted for Hüda-Par, a party that emerged from the Turkish Hezbollah, an outlawed Islamist militant grouping with no links to its Lebanese namesake. The party is not running in today’s elections. Its supporters clashed last year with followers of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) over the Turkish government’s hostile attitude to Kurdish fighters defending the Syrian-Kurdish city of Kobani against Isis militants.

“During the peace process the AKP only talked to the PKK, to the HDP, but they never talked to us. Our party is Kurdish, too, we should have a say in this as well.”

Many Kurds accuse Hüda-Par of never having come to terms with crimes and grave human rights abuses committed by Hezbollah members in the 1990s against leftist Kurdish dissidents, often tolerated by the Turkish state.

Mogulgani harshly criticised the AKP for their handling of the peace process and the recent violence in his neighbourhood and the whole predominantly Kurdish region.

“As Kurds we feel that we cannot vote for the AKP. Anyone who votes for them automatically becomes an accomplice in their crimes, like the [killing by airstrikes] of civilians in Roboski. I tell all my friends not to vote for them. Their police wrote on the walls of our neighbourhood: ‘You will see the strength of the Turks.’ Who will see that strength? To what end? People should always vote for someone because they love them, not because they are afraid of them.”

People ride a vehicle past Turkish special police personnel outside a polling station in Diyarbakir, Turkey.
People ride a vehicle past Turkish special police personnel outside a polling station in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Photograph: Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

Erdoğan has framed the election as a pivotal opportunity for Turkey to return to single-party AKP rule after months of political uncertainty, Reuters reports.

“It is obvious in today’s election how beneficial stability is for our nation and today our citizens will make their choice based on this,” Erdoğan told reporters after voting in his home district of Camlica on the Asian side of Istanbul.

Flanked by his wife in a gold-coloured headscarf, he voted under tight security with snipers watching from nearby rooftops.

The wife of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Emine, centre, casts her vote at a polling station, in Istanbul.
The wife of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Emine, centre, casts her vote at a polling station, in Istanbul. Photograph: Hussein Malla/AP

Voters in what is effectively capital of Turkish Kurdistan have been flooding to the polls under heavy security measures, writes Constanze Letsch in Diyarbakir.

Armoured police vehicles and heavily armed special forces policemen, some of them masked, stood guard just outside several schools in the central Diyarbakir district of Sur.

“I saw the armoured police cars this morning, and the special forces police just at the end of our street, and I was afraid to go out,” said one 32-year-old woman. She added that the police were posted in the same spot as three weeks ago, when security forces conducted a violent raid in the district. “My children were afraid that there would be clashes again. But we will go vote today, we don’t let them intimidate us.”

According to Turkish election law, armed police are not allowed to be stationed closer than 100m from ballot boxes, lawyer Baris Yavuz, head of the Human Rights Foundation said. In some school turned polling stations, special forces left the premises after the arrival of an international delegation of leftist MEPs who complained about the breach of election legislation.

“This is an unprecedented provocation,” said Martina Michels, an MEP for the German leftist party Die Linke, and part of a delegation of election observers. “But the Turkish government should know that they are at least being watched.”

Many voters in Sur see the presence of heavily armed policemen as an attempt by the ruling AKP to scare people into voting in their favour.

“They want to put pressure on us, this is a tactic they use not to vote for the HDP,” said another female voter, aged 35. “God should punish Erdoğan for all the deaths here, all the people killed only because he wants to become [executive] president. We will not allow it.”

Kurds are voting under the control of Turkish special armed forces in Sur district in Diyarbakir Parliamentary election
Kurds are voting under the control of Turkish special armed forces in Sur district in Diyarbakir Parliamentary election. Photograph: EMIN OZMEN/SIPA/REX Shutterstock/EMIN OZMEN/SIPA/REX Shutterstock

Summary

Welcome to our live coverage of Turkey’s second election in five months.

The leaders and most of Turkey’s 50 million electorate have already voted, but polling stations will remain open for a few more hours. As soon as the polls close at 5pm [1400 GMT] we will begin to get an idea of the likely result from exit polls. A little while later results will start to be declared from individual constituencies.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is hoping for a return to the single-party rule he presided over for more than a decade until an inconclusive election on 7 June.

In that vote Erdoğan’s Islamic­ conservative Justice and Development party (AKP) fell short of an outright majority for the first time since it took power in 2002. Today’s snap elections were called after negotiations to form a coalition government fell apart.

Turkish general election result June 2015
Turkish general election result June 2015

The main reason for the AKP’s failure to secure a majority in June was the success of the leftist, pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic party (HDP) which entered parliament for the first time by surmounting Turkey’s unusually high election threshold of 10% and beating expectations with 13% of the vote and 80 seats.

Alberto Nardelli and his team explain the intricacies of the Turkish election system in this very useful primer on today’s election and the background to it.

Even though the AKP emerged as the largest party in June, the result was seen as a defeat for Erdoğan because he had been campaigning for a super majority of more 376 seats that would have allowed him to change the constitution and grant the presidency more executive powers. Erdoğan is still hoping for a super majority, or at least the 330 seats needed to call a referendum to put any changes to a popular vote. But the opinion polls before today’s vote suggested the AKP will once again fall short of a majority.

If the polls are right today’s election would be another significant blow to Erdoğan’s ambition to transform Turkey from a parliamentary system into a president-led republic.

But Erdoğan’s critics fear that if the AKP gains additional seats it will simply encourage him to further stall the formation of a new government and possibly even call a third election in the hope of securing an outright majority.

The key thing to watch is the vote of the HDP under its charismatic leader Selahattin Demirtas and whether it can once again beat the 10% threshold needed to secure parliamentary representation.

As Kareem Shaheen reports the election has taken place against a backdrop of instability and renewed violence. Last month twin suicide bombings targeted a peace rally in the capital, Ankara, killing dozens of people in the worst ever terrorist attack on Turkish soil. Another attack in the town of Suruç near the Syrian border killed 32 people, mostly Kurdish activists.

In the wake of those attacks many accused Erdoğan of deliberately fuelling sectarian divisions and reviving conflict with militant Kurdish groups ‎in order to scare voters into supporting his law-and-order platform.

The Financial Times’ former Turkey correspondent Daniel Dombey points out that if the AKP is forced into a coalition that could trigger damaging corruption investigations. As a result he says the stakes in this election couldn’t be higher for Erdogan. Talking on the the FT World Weekly podcast, Dombey said: “It may not seem from outside that there is a very big difference between an AKP led coalition and a AKP government. But for that man there is all the difference in the world because it probably means the difference between corruption probes and no corruption probes. So one can’t underestimate the importance of this election for Erdoğan.”

Updated

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