Turkey began counting ballots Sunday evening in a runoff presidential race that will decide whether the country’s longtime leader stretches his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade, or is unseated by a challenger who has promised to restore a more democratic society.

Voters in Turkey returned to the polls Sunday to decide whether the country’s longtime leader stretches his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade, or is unseated by a challenger who has promised to restore a more democratic society.

Polls have opened in Turkey’s presidential runoff as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fights for a historic third term on Sunday.

The initial election was held on May 14, but a runoff was triggered after neither candidate garnered the requisite 50% vote needed to carry the presidency. Erodgan, who performed better than expected in the first round,

Polls closed in Turkey in a runoff presidential race that will decide whether the country’s longtime leader stretches his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade,

ANKARA, Turkey It’s one of the most hotly contested presidential elections in recent times, but at the Arjantin İlkokulu elementary school in Turkey’s capital Ankara, the mood was quiet, orderly and calm.

Turks voted on Sunday in a presidential runoff that could see Tayyip Erdogan extend his rule into a third decade and persist with Turkey's increasingly authoritarian path, muscular foreign policy and unorthodox economic governance.