Polls open in Turkey’s presidential & parliamentary election

Turkish voters are gathering in polling centers on Sunday to cast their ballots in the presidential and parliamentary election. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in power since 2003, is seeking to extend his 15-year rule and assume sweeping new presidential powers. Over 56 million people have been registered to vote at 180,000 ballot stations across the country. The high-stakes election started at 8:00 local time (0500 GMT) and will end at 17:00 (1400 GMT). It was previously scheduled for November 2019. However, Erdogan called for an earlier election, saying the new powers would help him better tackle the nation’s economic problems.