Turkey vote in landmark presidential election

Turkey is heading to the polls to elect a new president, and for the first time, the country’s leader will be elected by a popular vote on Sunday, in line with a constitutional amendment adopted in 2007.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the frontrunning candidate.

Erdogan's main opponent Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, a conservative academic and diplomat who used to lead the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, is hoping to score a surprise victory. Ihsanoglu is supported by the left-leaning secularist Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the two largest opposition parties in the country, in addition to three smaller ones.

Erdogan has talked about infrastructure projects, foreign policy actions, economic reforms, and a new constitution featuring a presidential system, while Ihsanoglu has highlighted “unity” and “neutrality.

Selahattin Demirtas, a senior figure among Turkey's Kurdish minority, is the third presidential candidate. He is supported by the People's Democracy Party (HDP), a pro-minority rights party supported primarily by Kurdish Turks. 

The presidential vote takes place just three months after Erdogan's ruling conservative Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) won the local elections. The local elections were held in a tense political climate amid new internet controls, aniti-government protests and allegations of corruption surrounding Erdogan’s government.

Unless a candidate receives more than 50 percent support in the first round, a runoff vote will be held on August 24 between the top two candidates.