ANKARA (AFP) - The party of Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a strong early lead in municipal elections Sunday seen as a bellwether of his rule, TV channels reported.

With 13 percent of the local votes counted, the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) was at 49.6 per cent of the nationwide vote, the private NTV television reported.

CNN-Turk reported the AKP scored 48 per cent of the votes cast nationwide, based on more than 10 percent of the vote counted, and was ahead in megacity Istanbul and the capital Ankara.