Parliamentary elections held in Turkey

The parliamentary elections in Turkey are proceeding in a calm atmosphere without law violations, Torgul Ismail, the member of the International Relations Faculty of the Turkish University of Ecomomics and Technology, told VK correspondent.

 The parliamentary elections started in Turkey today at 07:00 local time. About 15 political parties, nominating 7,500 candidates, and 203 independent candidates are running inr the parliamentary elections.

A total of 550 people will be elected to the Turkish Parliament. The main competitors in this election will be the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the leader which is Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

 Erdogan's party has been in power in Turkey since November 2002. At the last parliamentary elections held in June 2007, it gained about 47 percent of the votes and formed a single-party government. A total of 50 million Turkish citizens are due to vote.