Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fell short of securing a majority in a tight election race on Monday, sending voters back to the polls for a second-round run-off.
Preliminary results showed Mr Erdogan had received 49.51 per cent of votes, short of the 50 per cent needed to win in the first round, High Election Board chief Ahmet Yener said on Monday.
His closest rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu had 44.88 per cent, the board said, while third-placed candidate Sinan Ogan had 5.17 per cent.
The remaining 35,874 uncounted overseas votes would not tip any of the candidates over the 50 per cent threshold, Mr Yener said.
The second round of voting will be held on May 28.
Before the final result, Mr Ogan said he could only support Mr Kilicdaroglu in the run-off if he agreed to offer no concessions to a pro-Kurdish party.
“We will consult with our voter base for our decision in the run-off. But we already made clear that the fight against terrorism and sending refugees back are our red lines,” he said.
Speaking earlier on Monday, Mr Erdogan said a second round would be “welcome”.
Mr Kilicdaroglu urged his supporters not to be disheartened.
“Do not fall into despair. I will stand upright.,” he tweeted shortly after the election board announcement.
“I will tell you my clear observations of what is happening. Then we will stand up and take this election together.”
He said earlier on Monday that he would accept the people's decision for a second round, as Mr Erdogan said another poll would be “welcome”.
Media outlets, which were banned from reporting on the election until after 6.30pm local time, offered differing predictions as votes were counted across the country.
State-run news agencies initially placed Mr Erdogan ahead of Mr Kilicdaroglu, while opposition officials accused Anadolu Agency of manipulating data in favour of the President.
“We will not sleep tonight, my people,” said Mr Kilicdaroglu, leader of the People's Republican Party (CHP), calling on the election board to release data from various provinces.
The election authority later said it was not withholding vote counts from political parties.
Election rallies in Turkey ahead of May 14 elections - in pictures
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Turkish President and People's Alliance's candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a campaign rally in Ankara. AFP -
Emine Erdogan, the President's wife, greets his supporters in Ankara on Sunday. AFP -
Supporters of Mr Erdogan at the Ankara rally. AFP -
Mr and Mrs Erdogan wave to supporters. AFP -
Mr Erdogan delivers his speech in Ankara on Sunday. AFP -
Mr Erdogan delivers his speech in Ankara on Sunday. AFP -
Mr Erdogan delivers his speech in Ankara on Sunday. AFP -
Supporters of Mr Erdogan wave Turkish flags at the Ankara rally. AFP -
The Erdogans wave to supporters. AFP -
Erdogan supporters smile at the campaign rally. AFP -
Supporters listen to Mr Erdogan's address in Ankara on Sunday. AP -
Mr Erdogan speaks with an Ankara football club's scarf around his neck. AP -
Supporters of Turkey's Republican People's Party chairman and Presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu rally in Izmir, Turkey, on Sunday. Republican People's Party Press Service / AFP -
Mr Kilicdaroglu delivers a speech in Izmir. Republican People's Party Press Service / AFP -
Mr Kilicdaroglu and his wife Selvi wave to supporters. Republican People's Party Press Service / AFP -
Mr and Mrs Kilicdaroglu pose in front of thousands of his supporters. Republican People's Party Press Service / AFP -
Mr Kilicdaroglu's supporters throng in Izmir. Republican People's Party Press Service / AFP -
Supporters of Mr Kilicdaroglu make the heart gesture in Izmir. Republican People's Party Press Service / AFP -
Supporters wave flags and chant while awaiting the arrival of CHP presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu at a campaign rally on Sunday in Izmir, Turkey. He is considered to pose a major threat to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's long rule in the May elections. Getty -
Mr Kilicdaroglu addresses his supporters on Sunday. Republican People's Party Press Service / AFP -
Supporters await Mr Kilicdaroglu's arrival in Izmir. Getty -
Supporters await Mr Kilicdaroglu's arrival in Izmir. Getty -
The Kilicdaroglus return the heart gesture to his supporters. Getty -
Supporters await Mr Kilicdaroglu's arrival in Izmir. Getty
Opposition figures said the government was deliberately slowing down the count in districts where Mr Kilicdaroglu was enjoying strong support.
“They are contesting the count emerging from ballot boxes where we are massively ahead,” Istanbul's mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, said.
State broadcaster TRT earlier showed Mr Erdogan leading with just over 50 per cent of votes, compared with Mr Kilicdaroglu's 43 per cent, based on almost 86 per cent of votes counted.
HalkTV, close to the CHP, also placed the President ahead of its candidate, although estimates continued to fluctuate as the night progressed.
But later, Mr Kilicdaroglu wrote on Twitter that “we are leading”, while Mr Imamoglu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas also said he was on track for victory.
In past elections, Mr Erdogan has generally placed ahead in early results as votes from urban centres are still to be counted.
Exit polls are banned in Turkey.
Mr Erdogan also wrote on Twitter that hurried results were “stealing the national will of the people”.
CHP officials have said the party expects its highest turnout to date in Istanbul as polls closed in the country's most important presidential election yet.
“We expect record turnout in Istanbul,” said Canan Kaftancioglu, the CHP's provincial leader in Istanbul, where Mr Erdogan made a last attempt to appeal to voters at three separate rallies on Saturday.
“There is information that this is the case all over Turkey,” Ms Kaftancioglu said. He added that the party expected a 90 per cent voter turnout in Turkey's largest city of almost 16 million.
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Since the Syrian war broke out in 2011, Turkey has become the new home of at least 3.7 million people who fled the regime of President Bashar Al Assad, Russian bombardments and ISIS. All photos: AFP -
Most have temporary protection status, leaving them vulnerable to forced return -
The secular CHP party of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who is running neck-and-neck against Mr Erdogan, pledges to repatriate Syrian refugees 'within two years' -
'May Erdogan win,' says Neroz Hussein (pictured), a mother from Kurdish-majority Kobane in Syria's north-west. 'Recep Tayyip Erdogan will help us stay' -
"Even if they don't send us back all at once, they will put pressure on us, demand papers, increase our rents and bills," she says. -
About 240,000 Syrians have obtained Turkish citizenship and the accompanying right to vote in the approaching polls, in which a new parliament will also be elected -
They can gain citizenship by investing or, like Hussein Utbah (pictured), by becoming students in sought-after fields such as electrical engineering -
'My friends and I all have the same view: not only because we are Syrians, but because of what we see he has done for the country,' he said of Mr Erdogan -
Hussein also scoffed at the CHP's pledge to ensure Syrians' 'voluntary and dignified' return. 'We can't go back and trust Bashar al-Assad,' said Hussein, whose family fled Raqqa when it became the self-proclaimed ISIS capital in 2015 -
Syrians also provide a source of cheap labour on Turkish farms, construction sites and textile mills, causing some analysts to believe mass repatriation is unrealistic -
Mohamed Utbah (pictured) wondered why anyone would want to send him back. 'We're not doing anything wrong here, we're useful to Turkey'
Results from Istanbul are decisive in determining the course of the election.
Sunday's presidential election, accompanied by parliamentary elections, is the most important to take place in the 100 years of the post-Ottoman republic.
For the millions of first-time voters taking to the polls, estimates suggested they could wake up under a new leader for the very first time.
Mr Kilicdaroglu had been predicted to narrowly beat Mr Erdogan and clinch victory in a single round.
His spokesman, Faik Oztrak, said they were seeing a positive picture even as TRT showed Mr Erdogan leading.
Polling stations in Taksim and Besiktas were packed in the late morning and into the afternoon.
As polling drew to a close, police erected security barriers in the central Taksim Square, historically the scene of large political protests.
