Voting is underway in Turkey's presidential and parliamentary elections. The first results are expected late in the evening. Over 56 million Turks are eligible to vote nationwide, and officials are expecting a high turnout. The country remains under a state of emergency imposed after a failed coup in July 2016. These elections were originally scheduled for November 2019, but were brought forward by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan and his main rival Muharrem Ince both held huge rallies on Saturday, their final day of campaigning. And each branded the other unfit to lead. CGTN's Michal Bardavid has more.

MICHAL BARDAVID ISTANBUL "We're at one of the polling stations here in Istanbul, the atmosphere is buzzing in Turkey with a massive 90 percent turnout expected in the elections.This election is very critical for Turkey.

Erdogan says he will move forward with Turkey's transition to a presidential system. However, his main rival Muharrem Ince is the candidate of CHP has promised to reverse that decision.

The other main candidate is Meral Aksener, leader of the Iyi Party, the only woman candidate in the race. Exit polls are suggesting that no one candidate will be able to gain more than 50% of the vote which is needed to win the presidential election, and in that case, there will be a run-off between the top two on July 8th in Turkey.

The parliamentary elections are also critical, even if Erdogan wins the presidential election there is a chance that Ak Party may lose its majority in parliament, which would also have an impact on Turkey. Michal Bardavid, CGTN, Istanbul."