On August 10 the presidential elections are being held in Turkey. For the first time the president is being elected by popular vote. The president was previously elected by the country's lawmakers.
The vote started at 8am local time and will continue till 5pm.
Three candidates are running for president. They are the incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the former Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, who was nominated by the major opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and Selahattin Demirtaş of the Peoples' Democratic Party.
The official results of the elections will be published on August 15. The preliminary results will be announced on August 11.
If no candidate secures victory in the first round, the second round of voting will be held on August 24.
