ANKARA, November 3 (IslamOnline) - Turks voted Sunday, November 3, in snap polls most likely to rewrite the nation's political landscape and hand victory to a party with a suspected hidden Islamic agenda.

The country's 41 million voters were expected to throw out the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and put their faith instead in an untested party founded on the ashes of a banned Islamic movement.

Polls closed at 4:00 pm (14H00 GMT). Initial projections and early results were expected by early evening. The moderate Islamic Justice and Development Party was leading with about 35 percent of the vote, according to several television channels, quoting exit polls.

The Turkish elections, meanwhile, were closely watched by the United States, a fellow NATO member, as it gears up for possible war against neighboring Iraq, and the European Union, which has so far spurned Turkey's bid to join the bloc demanding it implement far-reaching reforms.

Voters seemed determined to punish Ecevit and his three-way ruling coalition, which came to power in 1999, for an economic crisis which sent Turkey running to the International Monetary Fund for a 16-billion-dollar bailout.

According to exit polls indications, the strongest contender to top the polls is the Justice and Development Party (AK).

According to IslamOnline correspondent in Turkey, the elections were run in "a very calm atmosphere," hardly a typical Turkish polling norm.

Some 19 political parties participated in the heated elections to choose 550 MPs. The minute polling stations opened for voting, huge numbers of Turkish voters lined up before 17 polling stations (comprising 172,000 ballot boxes), to cast their ballots.

On the eve of the elections, campaigns reached the peak, with all parties trying to win over skeptical voters. Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by Receb Tayeb Erdogan distributed thousands of electrical lamps among the crowds, as the lamp is the party's logo.

The AKP's slogan was "Everything for Turkey", with Erdogan, stressing the party's ability to rule alone, carry out the economic, social, and political reform programs. To show how he belongs to the public, Erdogan, during the campaign, repeatedly shouted, "We walked together, got wet under the rain together".

Erdogan was barred from running in the election because of a 1998 conviction for sedition, leaving it without a candidate for the post of Prime Minister since Erdogan cannot be named to the post.

The party has adamantly refused to name its candidate for prime minister until unofficial poll results are declared Monday and its insistence on keeping Erdogan as chairman has triggered a legal move to ban the party for defying the law - sparking fears of a constitutional crisis for the troubled country.

Happiness Party (HP), led by Rajaie Quoti, and supported by former Prime Minister Nijm Edeen Erbakan (the real party leader), raised the slogan, “A Call for Happiness”. During the campaign conferences in different Turkish constituencies, Erbakan used to repeat sayings like, "No votes for imitators", in a clear reference to AKP, considered a copy of the HP. Also, sayings like, "You do not vote for HP, you belong to the party of Potatoes".

Motherland Party (MP), led by former Premier Misut Yilmazh, raised the slogan, "For Turkey", with the party's leader shouting, "The way to Europe starts with us". However, Yilmazh and his MP were heavily criticized, both in the press and publicly, for using a leaflet, depicting two lamps; one of them draped in black, with the writing, "Today is light, tomorrow is dark". It was seen as an improper attack against the AKP.

Right Path Party (RPP), led by former Prime Minister, Tanciu Chiller, standing for center-right and raising the slogan of, "Let Turkey be great", used the card of free health care for all.

National Movement Party (NMP), led by Dawlat Baghly, for its part, felt worried due to the failure of the ruling coalition, of which the NMP was a part. Baghly, during election rallies repeated, "I feel ashamed of the spread of unemployment. We want our party to rule alone".