Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed victory in the country's presidential election, as he looks to extend his 15-year grip on power in the face of a revitalised opposition.
However, the main opposition Republican People's party (CHP) said it was too early to concede defeat and said it believed Mr Erdogan could still fall short of the 50 per cent needed to avoid a runoff on 8 July.
“Our people have given us the job of carrying out the presidential and executive posts,” Mr Erdogan said in a short speech from Istanbul.
“I hope nobody will try to cast a shadow on the results and harm democracy in order to hide their own failure,” he added.
He also declared victory for the People's Alliance, an electoral cooperation between his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the small Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), saying they had a “parliamentary majority” in the 600-member assembly.
Turkey's High Electoral Board have yet to release the official results.
The state-run Anadolu Agency claimed that with 95.5 per cent of votes counted, Mr Erdogan had won a 52.72 per cent share of the national vote, while the CHP candidate, Muharrem İnce, was on 30.75 per cent. Although the CHP said the number of ballots counted ws far less than that.
CHP Spokesman Bulent Tezcan criticised Turkey's official news agency for reporting that Mr Erdogan has won enough to avoid a run-off and accused the agency of distorting the results.
He said “there is a high probability the presidential election will go to a second round”.
The pro-Kurdish party, known as the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), is said to have won more than 10 per cent of the vote, the minimum threshold to to enter parliament. reducing the majority of Mr Erdogan’s ruling party, the AKP.
The results, if they are made official, will be a disappointment to the opposition, who hoped to push Mr Erdogan into a run-off against Mr İnce, and to wrest control of the legislature from the AKP. A surprisingly strong showing for the AKP's alliance partner the MHP had reduced the likelihood of Mr Erdogan losing the majority he craves.
“This sets the stage for speeding up reforms,” Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek tweeted of the results.
Sunday's presidential election is the first handing the winner extraordinary new powers, allowing the president to form the government, appoint ministers, vice presidents and top bureaucrats, issue decrees, prepare the budget and impose states of emergency.
Mr Ince urged election monitors to remain at polling stations to help ensure against possible election fraud, as final results came in from large cities where his party typically performs strongly.
