ANKARA
Voting in Turkey's 25th general election began at 8.00 a.m. (0600GMT) on Sunday.
More than 53.7 million Turks are eligible to vote in a poll to elect 550 deputies to the Grand National Assembly.
A total of 174,240 polling stations will be open until 5.00 p.m. local time (1500 GMT). Nearly a million Turks living abroad have already cast their ballots at 122 embassies and consulates.
The votes from 33 ballot stations at airports and border crossings will be collected when the polls close on Sunday.
The electorate will be selecting a party, rather than a candidate, in 85 voting districts across the country under the closed list proportional representation system.
The election will be 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 (AK) Party, which has been in government since 2002, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) are expected to take seats while pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) is aiming to enter parliament for the first time as a party.
