KURTALAN, Turkey -- In this destitute corner of southeastern Anatolia, voters have few doubts and high expectations concerning the outcome of Sunday's by-election. "I'm betting it's 3-o in favor of AKP," says Basir Nas, a 25-year-old hairdresser, expressing confidence that the ruling Justice and Development Party would win all three seats at stake. "I haven't the slightest doubt about it."

The Conservative AKP came to power in November on a sweeping election victory. But its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan was not allowed to run because he once served a jail term for Islamist sedition.

Since then Erdogan, 49, has acted as a shadow prime minister behind Abdullah Gul. Thanks to reforms passed by the AKP-dominated Parliament, he can now run in Siirt, where the November results were annulled due to voting irregularities.

"We are proud of the fact that, for the first time in our history, we are going to elect a (future) prime minister," said hairdresser Nas, beaming at the prospect of playing a part in what he sees as an historic moment for Turkey.

Kurtalan, in the southeastern province of Siirt, lies at the end of an historic 1,500-kilometer (900-mile) railway line linking Istanbul to southeastern Anatolia. But the two cities are worlds apart.

As in other areas of southeastern Anatolia, there is no industry and unemployment is high.

Many of Siirt Province's 265,000 people openly express the hope that Erdogan, once he becomes prime minister, will help the local economy.

"The fact that Erdogan will be our deputy in Ankara is a major opportunity for us," says Seyhmus Bilim, 38, a shopkeeper.

Bilim, who is of Arab descent like many others in the region, points at municipal workers repairing the city's streets ahead of Sunday's election.

"Even if Erdogan doesn't make any promises, he's certainly going to do good things for the province," he says.

Age-old feudal customs still prevail here, and most of the powerful local Muslim brotherhoods have instructed their members to vote for AKP, a party with strong Islamist roots.

Men, many of them ethnic Kurds, often while away their days at one of the city's many cafes while women stay at home.

It was at a rally in Siirt five years ago that Erdogan recited a poem that earned him a four-month jail term for "inciting religious hatred".

While Erdogan looks set to win handsomely on Sunday, not everybody here has forgotten one of the three deputies elected in November.

Fadil Akgunduz, a shadowy businessman born in Kurtalan, won 12,000 votes but is now jailed in Istanbul where his trial for embezzlement opened on Thursday.

Regular customers at one of the town's cafes lament the fact that Akgunduz is no longer in the running. "If he could stand again, he would be reelected with 30,000 votes," says one man. Akgunduz has asked his supporters to cast their vote on Erdogan instead. (AFP)