ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim is quoted as saying that 30,000 Syrians who acquired Turkish nationality are eligible to vote in Sunday's presidential and parliamentary elections.

The Hurriyet newspaper and other media said Yildirim made the comments Tuesday in the city of Izmir.

Turkey, which is hosting 3.5 million Syrian refugees, announced in 2016 that it would begin granting citizenship to Syrians.

Meanwhile, voting at Turkish diplomatic missions abroad for expatriate Turks ends Tuesday, with orange sealed bags carrying votes already arriving in Turkey. Voting at border gates and airports will continue until all polls close Sunday afternoon.

The country's official Anadolu news agency said 41 percent of the more than 3 million registered expatriate voters have cast their ballots so far.