The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan topped the presidential election results, with more than 40 percent of the ballots counted.
So far, Erdogan, who has been in power for 20 years, has won 52.4 percent of the vote, compared to 43.8 percent for opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the agency added.
It appears that the majority of ballots counted so far are in heavily pro-Erdogan areas in northern and eastern Turkey.
However, Kilicdaroglu announced that he was leading the results, ahead of Erdogan.
He wrote on Twitter: “We are in the lead,” rejecting the figures published by the “Anatolia” news agency.
Faik Ozturk, a spokesman for Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People’s Party, said earlier that the opposition’s internal census showed a “positive” result.
He added, “We will start giving numbers when the number of open ballot boxes reaches a significant level.”
In turn, the opposition mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, who may appoint a vice-president if Kilicdaroglu wins, asked the citizens not to believe the figures published by the “Anatolia” news agency, and said, “We do not believe (the agency) Anatolia at all.”
On the other hand, the numbers of the “Halk TV” television station, which is close to the Republican People’s Party, showed a slight progression for Kilicdaroglu by 47.71%, compared to 46.5% for Erdogan.
“We will not let our citizens be fooled,” Imamoglu commented.
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