(VOVworld) – Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, won a parliamentary majority in Sunday’s elections, returning the country to single-party rule.

AKP supporters celebrate outside party headquarters in Ankara. (Photo: Umit Bektas /Reuters)

With 97 percent of the votes counted, the AKP had more than 49 percent of the votes, and had secured 315 seats in the 550-member parliament. The main opposition Republican People’s Party won 23 percent, the Nationalist Movement Party won 11 percent, and the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party won 10 percent. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu declared the AKP victory in his first statement after the polls closed, and called for the solidarity among all political parties.