. >> reporter: the main contender was ekmeleddin ihsanoglu. he was backed by a diverse range of parties, he was unable to stop recep tayyip erdogan winning a ninth election. >> i hope the results will be good for our democracy, i congratulate our prime minister and wish him luck. >> reporter: despite recep tayyip erdogan and his party not losing an election for 12 years, they failed to convince some turks this he was the right man for the job. >> i voted for ekmeleddin ihsanoglu. because i think he's the candidate that would unite the country. unlike recep tayyip erdogan, what claims to represent the people that vote for him. >> reporter: many that opposed recep tayyip erdogan accused his government of being more thorough tarianism. -- authoritarianism. >> that is what they deny. >> the government and recep tayyip erdogan declared a large democratisation programme, and he has been the sole power behind the peace process in turkey. >> reporter: not lost on the elections or celebrations were issues of foreign policy. recep tayyip erdogan told su

. >> recep tayyip erdogan's main contender was backed by a diversion range of parties, ekmeleddin ihsanoglu. they were not able to stop recep tayyip erdogan winning a ninth consecutive election. >> i hope the results will be good for our democracy. i congratulate our prime minister and wish her good luck. >> despite the party not losing an election for 12 years, the president elect fails to convince some turks that he was the right man for the job. >> i voted for ekmeleddin ihsanoglu, primarily because he's the candidate that would unite the country, unlike recep tayyip erdogan, who claims to represent the people who vote for him. many of those who oppose recep tayyip erdogan, accuse him and his government of becoming more authoritarian, an accusation they deny. >> during the time we'll hear about the criticism, the government and recep tayyip erdogan declares one of the largest programs in the republic. and, second, he has been the soul power behind the peace process in turkey, one of the biggest issues that have been sources of turkish authoritarianism in our geography. >> the election no

they might prefer him more than recep tayyip erdogan, and ekmeleddin ihsanoglu. the main potential candidate comes from a religious background that recep tayyip erdogan used, the religious background. they thought this may - being of pious flavour may take the advantage. this was a deliberate strategy. >> it has not worked? >> according to the polls before the elections, there was a two-digit difference between recep tayyip erdogan and ekmeleddin ihsanoglu. we are not sure of the results. if recep tayyip erdogan wins in the first round. the strategy means it did not work out. >> you say people commentate that he's a polarizing figure. recep tayyip erdogan has over seen a growing economy, growth in turkey's economic prospects and enfranchised a group much people. pios masses that felt alienated. he, from what we see, represents them. this is a man that is a democrat at heart. >> you are right. recep tayyip erdogan is election machinery. he has won all the elections. he participated throughout the local elections you are right. and half of the turkish society was,

his challenge are is 70-year-old retired diplomat ekmeleddin ihsanoglu, a joint candidate for a number of parties, and seen as a unifying figure. then there's selahattin demirtas, a 41-year-old lawyer, seen as part of the new generation of kurdish politicians. >> our correspondent joins us from the turkish capital ankara. jamal, recep tayyip erdogan is looking likely as a front runner. why is he so popular in turkey? >> well, as you pointed out, there has been a record economic growth in this country under recep tayyip erdogan's premiership and party's governance, playing a sizeable role in the popularity, and it's brought about a lot of people away from poverty, and more working or middle class income, which has benefitted millions of turks. added to that is the social service, the improvements of education, 99 universities built, airports connecting the country. a lot has helped. there has been foreign policies which helped to a great extent in terms of increasing his popularity. that has played very well for him. however, having said that, he is not without his critics. those critic

leftist, behind one person, being ekmeleddin ihsanoglu. aside from billing themselves as anti-recep tayyip erdogan, they failed to sell an alternative on things like the economy, things like foreign policy. they touched pon something being less rational, like recep tayyip erdogan showed over of the past few years. the likelihood is they'll fail to succeed in winning the elections. as each election goes by, the aim is that their share would increase, bear in mind there's parliamentary elections in a couple of years. if recep tayyip erdogan is to change the role of the presidency, he'll have to do it through a referendum. maybe they could garner support to block that through a public volt. we'll wait to see what the result is at the end. we expect results around 16, 17 g.m. t. >> thank you for that. >>> now, the eastern ukrainian city of slovyansk - lis have gone on a recruitment drive, trying to bolster numbers while weeding out people who smoothized with separatists who fled -- fled with separatists in july. >> reporter: they have been giv

it hasn't been an easy ride, when taking in corporation his main contender, ekmeleddin ihsanoglu. who don't see eye to aon a lot of things. they are trying to ensure that the party that governed turkey for over a decade doesn't continue on a trail of election wins. the likelihood is that recep tayyip erdogan will be victorious in a first round and there'll be no need for a second round. >> one of the things that the incumbent prime minister said is he wants to make the presidential position stronger than now. he wants to consolidate power, but change the title. >> well, that's what his critics are saying, pointing to the vladimir putin, med ef, and it was a question i put to the minister of culture who revuted this saying any change in the presidential powers would go through referendums when it comes to constitution, and they are the will of the public. turkey has several institutions that are meant to cancel each other out. from the parliament to the judiciary. whether that translates into action is a different matter, but as far as the party is concerned and recep tayyip erdoga

and the second leader is ekmeleddin ihsanoglu, but he's widely unknown. and then there is selahattin demirtas, a lawyer, who is unlikely to be voted president. we go to erdogan's final campaign rally. >> reporter: a massive crowd and turn out here in the city. there are many idealized here. a large part of the success viewed through the huge successes economically that erdogan has managed to achieve in his premiership of over ten years. in turkey where 99 universities have been military. the roads were built under his premiereship, and as well as reeducation and healthcare. thihis critics say that he has become more authoritarian. they accuse him of curbing freedoms and point to the fact of temporary ban of social media like twitter and youtube. he said that those bans were necessary to fend off a current conspiracy. however on the eve of those elections those scattered behind hope that come the results they will be just as happy as they are now. the challenge is if they are to win to insure under his presidency even more turks are just as happy. >> we're

. >> i voted for ekmeleddin ihsanoglu, because i think he's the candidate that would unite the country. unlike recep tayyip erdogan, who claims to represent the people who vote for him. many of those accuse him of becoming more and more authoritarian. that's an accusation they deny. >> translation: during the time we hear the criticism, the government and recep tayyip erdogan declared one of the largest democratisation programs. second, he has been the soul power behind the peace process in turkey. one of the biggest issues that have been sources of turkey in the story of our geography. >> reporter: not the elections nor the sell briggses were there -- celebrations were there issues of foreign policy. recep tayyip erdogan told supporters, that this was a victory for the free-loving people of the world. a new era for recep tayyip erdogan and turkey was a whole. ered indicated that -- recep tayyip erdogan indicated that he wishes to be in power in 2023, when turkey will celebrate 100 years since the founding of the republic. for him to do that and achieve other goals, he'll need to build

the main cherping is a diplomat, ekmeleddin ihsanoglu, a joint candidate for a number of parties, and then selahattin demirtas, a 41-year-old lawyer, seen as part of a new generation of kurdish politicians. >> let's join the correspondent in ankara. jam am, show us how the media, the local media is reporting on the vote? >> well, laura, the media here is like society itself, polarized in the sense that there isn't an independent press. it gives you a sense of how divisive politics is. let's start with the paper, a government pro-party paper. this is dictatorship, democracy, pointing to the decision to ban the muslim brotherhood. a sad day for egypt, an honourable and proud day for turkey. the government of the party has been in favour of the anti-coup movement. through the daily newspaper, which is an anti-rather government one, critical of the government, it says essentially that to the ballot boxes people flock essentially and chose, an session of many that cut the holidays short. here in the newspaper, the headline here, you have the president to be elected by popular votes the fir

one side contesting this is, as you say, ekmeleddin ihsanoglu.'d like to bring in a professor, a member of his campaign. you are an outside runner. the favoured is recep tayyip erdogan. how confident are you after you have seep after voting has got upped way -- seen after voting has got under way. >> i guess many people will vote. we believe that many of these people - this is good news for the campaign. >> this is elections and democracy. you have to be ready for all kinds of results. tonight we will get to know what the results are. they are hopeful. we did our best, so we'll be watching together with everybody else. some of your critics say once they were act unit political parties, and others around them, you haven't been able to convince the public of an alternative. based on being not voting for recep tayyip erdogan. rather than giving a positive alternative. actually, i believe they gave a positive message which is that turkey used parliamentary democracy, and its history or legacy is strong, and turkey should perfect its existing parliame

ekmeleddin ihsanoglu. he is a state diplomat, head of the main organization of the islamic corporation. it's toothless, it's not like the european union, or the african union. he's backed by a dozen parties. they are united in the opposition. they have a third conzenneder. they have little or no chance of winning. the impact that theinority community is able to nom nit someone is a factor in itself. >> in ukraine pro-russian separatists will aid -- be needed to avoid a disaster. >> meanwhile, the secretary of state john kerry is urging russia to not interfere with the situation in ukraine, and says that any humanitarian works should be part of an effort. >> nearly 1,000 have died from ebola. guinea shut off border lines to liberia. some people are eating wild game still. >> reporter: this woman has been selling game meat for 30 years. she runs a makeshift restaurant outside lagos. on the menu is monkey and antelope. she prepares the meat for customers that may not come. come, like a day. one or two personn