As Turks prepare to head to the polls on Sunday in the country’s first direct presidential elections, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears set for a landslide victory.

As Turks prepare to head to the polls on Sunday in the country's first direct presidential elections, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears set for a landslide victory.

Previously chosen by the parliament, a 2010 referendum paved the way for direct elections, as well as giving some 3 million Turks living abroad the right to participate in the voting process.

Erdogan, 60, representing the Justice and Development Party (AK) will be running against scholar Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, 70, and the Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas, 41, who is the co-chair of the Democratic People's party (HDP).