VIOLENCE, allegations of fraud and a range of other violations marked today’s crunch local elections in Turkey as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared set to be given a bloody nose in the polls.

In one of the early results it appeared that Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) candidate Fatih Mehmet Macoglu was set to become Mayor of Dersim, leading the vote with 80 per cent of the boxes opened.

National turnout was high at just over 82 per cent however a heavy military presence, particularly in the largely Kurdish south-east, oversaw alleged fraud, including double-voting.