The Latest: Kurds clash with police in southeast Turkey
By Associated Press
Nov 1, 2015 11:40 AM CST
The Latest: Kurds clash with police in southeast Turkey
Turkey's opposition Nationalist Action Party leader Devlet Bahceli casts his vote at a polling station at a primary school in Ankara, Turkey, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. Turks headed to the polls Sunday for the second time in five months in what is being seen as a crucial general election that will determine...   (Associated Press)

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The latest as tens of millions of Turkish voters cast ballots in a contest that will determine whether the ruling party can restore the parliamentary majority it had enjoyed for over a decade. All times are local.

8:40 p.m.

Clashes have broken out in a mainly Kurdish city in southeast Turkey after preliminary results showed that the ruling party appears to have clawed back its majority in a crucial parliamentary election.

Kurds on Sunday set fire to garbage bins and threw stones at police in Diyarbakir in isolated clashes. Police used water cannons to disperse the crowds.

Preliminary results showed that the ruling Justice and development Party, or AKP, had won just below 50 percent of the vote, which would restore its ruling majority.

The vote is a re-run of a June election in which AKP surprisingly lost its one-party rule due to a strong showing by a Kurdish party.

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7:45 p.m.

State-run TRT television says that preliminary results in Turkey's crucial parliamentary election suggest a surprising boost for the ruling party.

It said that with more than 88 percent of the votes counted, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has won just below 50 percent, which would restore its ruling majority.

The result could still change significantly as votes come in from disparate regions of the country, but early indications suggest that the ruling party's gamble to hold new elections has paid off. Supporters at the party's Istanbul headquarters were already waving flags in a rapturous celebration.

The vote is a rerun of a June election in which AKP surprisingly lost its one-party rule due to a strong showing by a Kurdish party.

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7:45 p.m.

State-run TRT television says that preliminary results in Turkey's crucial parliamentary election suggest a surprising boost for the ruling party.

It said that with more than 81 percent of the votes counted, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has won just over 50 percent, which would comfortably restore its ruling majority.

The result could still change significantly as votes come in from disparate regions of the country, but early indications suggest that the ruling party's gamble to hold new elections has paid off. Supporters at the party's Istanbul headquarters were already waving flags in a rapturous celebration.

The vote is a rerun of a June election in which AKP surprisingly lost its one-party rule due to a strong showing by a Kurdish party.

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7:20 p.m.

State-run TRT television says that preliminary results in Turkey's crucial parliamentary election suggest a surprising boost for the ruling party.

It said that with 76 percent of the votes counted, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has won 51 percent, which would comfortably restore its ruling majority.

The result could still change significantly as votes come in from disparate regions of the country.

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