ISTANBUL >> President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has never lost an election, is taking a gamble that will consolidate his hold on power in Turkey if he emerges victorious from Sunday’s landmark presidential and parliamentary vote. Presidential and parliamentary elections: Nation goes to the polls

Polls have closed in Turkey's high-stakes presidential and parliamentary elections, with 56,322,632 registered voters and 180,065 ballot boxes across the country. In a nod to the possibility of the AKP and its allied Nationalist Movement Party not managing to win more than 300 of parliament’s 600 seats, Erdogan has indicated he could seek a coalition partner — the first time he has made such a suggestion — although he insisted the chance of this happening is “very, very low.”

The state of Turkey’s economy will be a crucial element of Sunday’s vote, in which about 59 million Turks are eligible to cast ballots. Meanwhile, the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) candidate Selahattin Demirtaş has won 7.2 percent and the newly formed Good Party's (İP) presidential candidate Meral Akşener gets 4.9 percent of the votes. OPPOSITION DOUBTS

Erdogan’s main presidential rival, Muharrem Ince of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), had urged election monitors to remain at polling stations to help ensure against possible election fraud, as final results came in from large cities where his party typically performs strongly.
Voters in Turkey go to the polls for a presidential and parliamentary election.