Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on Sunday on course for a crushing first-round victory in presidential elections to become a powerful head of state, amid fears his country is creeping towards one-man rule.
Erdogan was set to win 54.1 per cent of the vote, way ahead of his main opposition rival Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu on 37.4 per cent, Turkish television channels said, in results based on a 60 per cent vote count.
The third contender, Kurdish candidate Selahattin Demirtas, was set for 8.5 per cent of the vote. If the trend is continued, the result will mark a personal triumph for Erdogan, 60, who has promised to be a powerful President with a beefed-up mandate.
The polls are the first time Turkey — a member of NATO and longtime hopeful to join the EU — has directly elected its President, who was previously chosen by Parliament, and Erdogan is hoping for a massive show of popular support.
“Our people will make an important decision for Turkish democracy,” said Erdogan as he cast his vote in Istanbul alongside his wife Emine and two daughters and two sons.
Erdogan indicated that he planned to revamp the post to give the presidency greater executive powers, which could see Turkey shift towards a system more like that of France if his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) succeeds in changing the constitution.