WATCH: CGTN Europe previews the runoff election 

Early results from Turkiye's unprecedented election rerun to choose the country's leader have given the lead to President Erdogan.

In the first official update since polls closed, Turkiye's Supreme Election Council (YSK) has given 54.47 percent of votes to the ruling AKP's "People's Alliance."

With 85 percent of ballot boxes counted, both Turkiye's Anadolu Agency and the Anka (Phoenix) Agency say the incumbent is ahead at the ballot, that is after Anka gave an initial lead to his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Erdogan, seeking a third decade in power, has been facing united six party opposition determined to oust him. The result of Sunday's election looks set to shape the future course of the Republic for the next decade.

Turkiye's leader defied the opinion polls in the first round by taking a comfortable margin, but fell short of winning an overall mandate.

Berk Esen, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Istanbul's Sabanci University told CGTN Europe that the so-called "Table of Six" opposition had failed to meet the challenge posed by Erdogan's AKP, (Justice and Development Party). 

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EU election observers say the second round of voting has passed off fairly, but had stated that the first poll on May 14 had shown "a lack of transparency." The claims have been dismissed as 'politically charged and accusatory' by the AKP.

A loss in the second round will be a devastating result for the opposition National Alliance. The Table of Six had campaigned on a return to parliamentary governance and orthodox management of Turkiye's troubled economy.  

By comparison, the AKP had promoted an economic model based on manufacturing growth and had launched a number of elections "giveaways" to voters, including a boost to the minimum wage, lower pension entitlement for millions and free gas supplies for a month.

On Friday ahead of polling, the Turkish lira plunged to a new all time low of over twenty to the dollar. Analysts have warned of an "uninvestable" outlook for Türkiye if Erdogan's support for interest rate cuts and cheap borrowing continues.

Pointing to rebuilding costs in the wake of February's earthquakes, Umut Korkut, Professor of International Politics at Glasgow Caledonian University told CGTN Europe that the new AKP government may soon have to appeal to international lenders for support.

"He will have to go back to the markets in order to grow as much capital as possible. That may come with certain conditions in terms of his unorthodox economic policy. But I very much see that Erdogan will have to speak to the western institutions the aftermath of these elections."

The whirlwind election campaign saw the incumbent President given a boost when the third favorite candidate Muharrem Ince, sensationally dropped out. 

That left the door open to right-wing, ultra-nationalist Sinan Oğan, who polled an unexpected 5.3 percent in the first round. With just days to go ahead of a second round of voting, Oğan gave his endorsement to Erdogan's "Peoples Alliance."

The development is a blow to Türkiye's minority groups, many of whom are warning of a policy swing to the far right under any new administration. In a change of tone ahead of the second ballot, Kılıçdaroğlu has vowed to repatriate millions of Syrian and Afghan refugees if he takes over.

But tweeting from his cell in Edirne where he has served almost seven years on terrorism charges, Selahattin Demirtaş, the leader of the pro Kurdish HDP, which backed the National Alliance in the election urged voters to "Please use your right to vote…. (and) watch the vote count when the ballot boxes are opened."

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Source(s): AFP