Millions of Turks flocked to vote today in a parliamentary election seen as crucial to the future direction of this large Muslim but secular democracy straddling Europe and the Middle East.
Opinion polls show the ruling pro-business, Islamist-rooted AK Party government winning a fresh five-year mandate but strong gains by nationalist and secularist opposition parties could slash its majority and result in slower reforms.
"Our democracy will emerge from this election strengthened," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told reporters as he and his headscarfed wife Emine cast their ballots in his conservative Uskudar constituency on the Asian side of Istanbul.
Voting is compulsory in Turkey and turnout is expected to be very high. Many Turks voted early to avoid temperatures forecast to rise as high as 40 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.
Turkey, whose electorate numbers nearly 43 million out of a total population of 74 million, is one of the Muslim world's few democracies. Some four million young voters are taking part in a national election for the first time.
"This is a very important election. We need to keep the AK Party. They have done good things for Turkey. Before, things were very bad for the economy," said Rasim Ipek, 23, a grocery store worker, before voting in central Istanbul.
Erdogan, 53, Turkey's most popular politician, called the poll months early after the secular elite, including the powerful army, stopped him appointing a fellow ex-Islamist, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, as president.
Secularists say the AK Party wants to undermine Turkey's strict separation of religion and state, and although the ruling party denies this, the warning struck a chord with some voters.
"This government tried to destroy some of the foundations of Turkey. This is not a religious country," said student Ayse Akpinar, 20, who said she voted for an independent candidate.
"I would definitely feel under pressure to wear a headscarf if the ban were lifted," she said, referring to the Muslim garment currently forbidden in universities and public offices.
Erdogan, who denies any Islamist agenda, has presided over strong economic growth and falling inflation since his party swept to power in 2002 on the back of a financial crisis.
He has vowed more economic, social and political reforms needed to join the European Union despite scepticism over whether the bloc will ever let Turkey join.
"The AK Party has really helped the poor of this country. They distribute food, coal. They give money for our daughters to go to school," said Huseyin Yilmaz, 34, an unemployed man living in a shanty town on the edge of the capital Ankara.
"We always see Erdogan coming out of the mosque on Fridays. He is a religious man. He likes helping people, so we trust him," said Yilmaz's wife, Sefika, a mother of four.
Polling stations close at 5 pm (3 pm Irish time) and first unofficial results are due around 9 pm (7 pm Irish time).
Only two other parties -- the centre-left but nationalist Republican People's Party (CHP) and far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) -- look set to pass the high 10 percent national threshold to enter parliament.
Some independent, mostly pro-Kurdish candidates, are also tipped to win seats in the 550-member parliament.
"I am voting for the MHP because of the PKK (Kurdish militant) issue and because they will have a proper foreign policy towards the United States and Europe," said Istanbul hostel worker Cem Can, 30.
The MHP is deeply sceptical about Turkey's EU bid.
Turkish security forces have been battling PKK Kurdish rebels since 1984 in a conflict that has cost more than 30,000 lives. Violent clashes have increased over the past year.
Turkey's next government will have to decide whether to send the army into northern Iraq to crush PKK rebels based there, a move that is increasingly worrying the United States.