Turkey initial vote results: Erdogan ahead of Kilicdaroglu

ANKARA - Preliminary results from Turkey's presidential election showed Tayyip Erdogan ahead with 59.47% of votes compared to opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu with 34.79% on Sunday.

Broadcaster HaberTurk gave the results based on 9.1% of the votes counted. 

The presidential vote will decide not only who leads Turkey, a NATO-member country of 85 million, but also how it is governed, where its economy is headed amid a deep cost of living crisis, and the shape of its foreign policy.

Opinion polls have given Kilicdaroglu, who heads a six-party alliance, a slight lead, with two polls on Friday showing him above the 50% threshold needed to win outright. If neither wins more than 50% of the vote on Sunday, a runoff will be held on May 28.

Polling stations officially closed at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT) after nine hours of voting. Reporting of results before 9 p.m. is not permitted, so the first indications of the outcome may not emerge until late evening. However, election authorities may decide to allow media to report on results earlier.