ANKARA

 The polls have closed in Turkey’s 25th general election and the count is expected to begin shortly.

Electoral committees across the country’s 85 voting districts are due to start the count, with the polls having closed at 5.00 p.m. local time (1500GMT).

More than 53.7 million Turks were eligible to vote in a poll to elect 550 deputies to the Grand National Assembly.

A total of 174,240 polling stations were open and nearly a million Turks living abroad cast their ballots at 122 embassies and consulates. Ballot stations at 33 airports and border crossings also closed at 5.00 p.m.

The vote was conducted under the closed list proportional representation system and was overseen by observers from civil society groups and political parties as well as international monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe.

Of the 20 parties registered to contest the election, opinion polls suggest four parties could pass the 10 percent threshold to gain seats in the assembly.

The Justice and Development Party, which has been in government since 2002, the main opposition Republican People’s Party and the Nationalist Movement Party are expected to take seats while pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party is aiming to enter parliament for the first time as a party.