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Pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party likely to win seats in Turkey’s parliament - YSK

By now, the party has exactly ten percent of the vote

ANKARA, June 24. /TASS/. Turkey’s pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party is likely to win seats in the country’s new parliament as it is scoring more than ten percent of the vote at Sunday’s parliamentary polls, Anadolu Agency said citing first results from the Turkish Supreme Election Board (YSK) after counting 72.9% of ballots.

By now, the party has exactly ten percent of the vote. According to official YSK data, the ruling Justice and Development Party led by incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is leading the election with 44.3% of votes. Its closest rival, the opposition Republican People’s Party, is winning 21.5% of the vote. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) is scoring 11.6% of votes. Other parties are failing to win ten percent of votes that are necessary to have the right to send their representatives to the parliament.

Turkey held its first-ever concurrent presidential and parliamentary polls on Sunday. The Supreme Election Board promised to announce the voting results by the end of the day.

Six candidates, including Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are taking part in the presidential race. Erdogan’s main challenger is Muharrem Ince of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). Other presidential candidates are Meral Aksener of the IYI Party (translated into English as the Good Party), Temel Karamollaoglu of the Felicity Party, Dogu Perincek of the Patriotic party and Selahattin Demirtas of the pro-minority Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).

The Supreme Election Board has cleared nine parties to run in the parliamentary polls, including the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of President Erdogan and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which form the ruling alliance. The main opposition alliance includes Republican People's Party (CHP), the Islamist Felicity Party and the newly formed nationalist IYI Party. The parties that run independently are the pan-Islamism Free Cause Party, left-wing nationalist Patriotic Party and the Free Cause Party.

The Independent Turkey Party, which is also eligible for the vote, decided to boycott the polls.

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No further details were provided