Usually https://www.savethestudent.org/?s=bustling%20streets">bustling streets of Istanbul fell silent as Turks stayed glued to their TV screens https://www.healthynewage.com/?s=watching">watching the closest and most important election in a generation.

After more than eight long hours of counting, neither President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan nor challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu could claim victory.

Turkey instead faces a tense two weeks before the bitter rivals face off again in a runoff vote on May 28.

With the count still far from over after 1am with Mr  at 49.5 per cent and  https://kriuks.com/hotwin88-13/">penipu Mr Kılıçdaroğlu at 44.8 per cent but closing fast, voters had little to celebrate on election night.

Those who did venture out on to the mostly https://www.martindale.com/Results.aspx?ft=2&frm=freesearch&lfd=Y&afs=desolate">desolate streets, or were stuck working, were often seen huddled around a phone streaming https://www.answers.com/search?q=election%20coverage">election coverage.

With the sale of https://openclipart.org/search/?query=alcohol%20banned">alcohol banned until midnight on election day, many bars were shut and the few staying open to serve tea into the night had a TV their customers crowded around.

'It's been like this all night since the counting started, everyone went home,' one bored waiter said.