Watch the video: Erdogan wins Turkey presidential polls

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won tightly-contested presidential polls. Turkish voters had for the first time cast ballots for both president and parliament in the snap elections. The stakes were particularly high as the new president will be the first to enjoy enhanced powers. Under a new constitution agreed in an April 2017 referendum strongly backed by Erdogan the President can solely take a decision without even a prime minister's approval. Erdogan defeated his nearest rival Muharrem Ince with an “absolute majority” of more than half the vote without needing a second round. Erdogan won 52.5 per cent in the presidential poll. Ince, of the secular Republican People's Party (CHP), was on 31.5 per cent. Erdogan's Islamic-rooted ruling party first came to power in 2002 after years of secular domination. The president imposed emergency two years ago in the wake of the 2016 failed coup.