Turkish expat voters put incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the lead of the presidential race in Türkiye's crucial presidential and parliamentary elections, according to unofficial results Sunday.

With around 5% of the ballot boxes counted, President Erdoğan was leading with 55.72%. He was followed by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu with 40.27% of the votes.

More than 1.8 million Turkish expats have cast their votes abroad for the country's May 14 elections, the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Yasin Ekrem Serim said earlier Tuesday.

"Compared to previous elections, we reached a record number of participation abroad," said Serim in a statement on Facebook.

Serim thanked all participants and announced that the voting process was completed with the ballot boxes placed at Türkiye's Embassies and representative offices abroad.

Turkish citizens aboard cast their votes in 151 representative offices and 16 centers in 73 countries around the world.

Thanks to a 2012 legal amendment made in the legislation, Turkish expats can vote in the elections and referendums held in Türkiye.