Turks vote in parliamentary elections

Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkish voters headed to the polls Sunday in a parliamentary election that could allow the ruling party to overhaul the constitution.

Turkey has enjoyed an unprecedented period of economic stability and growth since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development party -- or AK party -- first swept to power in 2002.

Polls suggest Erdogan's party is likely to once again win a majority of seats in parliament.

The question is whether the AK Party will be able to capture 367 parliament posts out of the 550-person body. That two-thirds majority would allow Erdogan to unilaterally rewrite Turkey's constitution, without having to go to a referendum.

And Erdogan could continue to define the rapidly-changing country.

In the past nine years, Erdogan has successfully asserted civilian control over the once-meddlesome military. He has also relaxed taboos on ethnic and religious identity that once paralyzed public debate.

Faith and secularism in Turkey

But Erdogan has failed to reduce tensions with the Kurds, Turkey's largest ethnic minority. And rights groups question the growing number of Turkish journalists arrested and sued for articles they write.

Despite obvious flaws, Turkey's democracy can be viewed as an inspiration by neighbors such as Syria -- where a government crackdown on dissidents has sent thousands of refugees streaming into Turkey.

CNN's Joe Sterling contributed to this report.

CNN