UPDATE Türkiye: Early Results Show Erdogan Leads Vote

On Sunday, around 61 million eligible voters in Türkiye flocked to the polls to choose the Country's president and 600 legislators.

The presidential election is expected to be a tight race between Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking re-election with the support of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), and Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a Social Democratic politician who is sponsored by the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). Below are the major events as they occur.

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Elections in Türkiye Run Without Incident

20h00: Erdogan leads the unofficial count of presidential votes. So far, authorities have counted 41.8 percent of all the ballot boxes in the country.

According to unofficial data published by the media, President Erdogan has achieved 52.6 percent of the polls counted. Opposition candidate Kiliçdaroglu has won 41.6 percent of the vote. His party, however, maintains that the two main candidates are practically even.

If this trend continues, Erdogan will be re-elected for his third five-year presidential term. If neither candidate manages to get past 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be held in two weeks.

Regarding the parliamentary elections, the AKP alliance would have won with 61 percent of the seats. In this case, however, the ballot box count only reaches 10 percent.

17h00: The elections concluded without incident. Election day passed with hardly any incidents, although some sectors of the opposition denounced alleged irregularities and vote manipulation.

Different sources report that voter participation will be higher than that observed in past elections, where 80 percent of citizens authorized to vote exercised their rights.

The electoral campaign has been very tense. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is running for re-election, compared the 2023 election to the failed coup in 2016.

Responding to fears that he will not accept the results, Erdogan said on Friday that he will accept any result democratically.

"Dear fellow travelers. The voting process has concluded throughout our country in a manner consistent with our democracy. Thank God. As always, now is the time to hold on to the ballot box. Until the results are final, we continue to protect the will of our nation!," he said.

According to the provisions currently in force, news related to the elections may not be disseminated until 6:00 p.m. local time and the electoral results may only be disseminated after 9:00 p.m. local time. The Electoral Commission, however, can lift this veto earlier.