MINSK

Belarusians began casting votes on Sunday in the presidential election.

In a statement, the country's central election commission said over 6.84 million people are expected to cast their votes.

Five candidates are running for the presidency: Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus since 1994, Andreij Dmitrijev, co-chairman of the Speak the Truth movement, Anna Kanopackaja, a former lawmaker, Sergeij Cherechnia, chairman of Belarus’ Social Democratic Party and Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

Lukashenko was re-elected with 83.5% votes in 2015.

*Writing by Fahri Aksut in Ankara