Nearly complete results from Turkey's parliamentary elections Sunday indicate an overwhelming victory for the country's prime minister and his Islamic-rooted party, giving Recep Tayyip Erdogan a third straight term.
Unofficial results have the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, securing around 50 percent. The opposition Republican People's Party is trailing at about 26 percent, while the country's third largest party, the Nationalist Action Party, has about 13 percent.
About 50 million voters were eligible to cast ballots in the election.
Despite its expected victory, it does not appear the AKP will secure the two-thirds majority it needs in the 550-seat parliament to introduce a new constitution, which the party says would be more democratic. Early results indicate the party may fall just short of the 330 seats needed, a shortcoming that will force it to seek support from other parties.
Supporters of Mr. Erdogan say a new constitution would enshrine the rights of minorities, such as the Kurds who have been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey.
But critics of the Turkish leader say his government has become increasingly intolerant of criticism, and that his political goal is to create a more presidential-style government with him in control. They also accuse him of abusing his power and moving away from a secular state to a more conservative, Islamic form of government.
Although Sunday's vote was peaceful, the Anatolia news agency says police detained 34 people in the mainly Kurdish southeast province of Batman for allegedly trying to coerce people into supporting Kurdish nationalists running as independents.
The Kurds had threatened earlier this year to boycott the elections after Turkey's main election board announced plans to ban seven Kurdish candidates from running. That decision was later reversed.
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, has been fighting Turkey's military for an ethnic homeland since 1984. An estimated 40,000 people have died in the armed campaign.
Turkey, the United States and the European Union consider the PKK a terrorist group.
