Turkey's Erdogan takes big lead in vote count

25/6/2018 1:07

        Unofficial results from Turkey's presidential election show incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a commanding lead. With more than half of ballot boxes counted Sunday, in the lead, Erdogan had 56.5 percent of the vote, which would be enough for him to win outright and avoid a runoff election. Turkey's official Anadolu news agency said challenger Muharrem Ince was in second place, with nearly 29 percent of the vote. Jailed candidate Selahattin Demirtas hovered at around 6 percent. In the parliamentary election, a "People Alliance" consisting of Erdogan's ruling party and a nationalist party led at around 59 percent with about 36 percent of ballot boxes counted. The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party is nearing the 10 percent electoral threshold to enter parliament, with 9 percent of the vote. Sunday's high-stakes presidential and parliamentary elections could consolidate Erdogan's grip on power or curtail his vast political ambitions.