Iranian President Hassan Rouhani congratulated Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan after his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) took lead in the local elections, Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.

Turkish people's turnout in the polls signifies victory for democracy in a Muslim state, said Rouhani in a telephone conversation with Erdogan on Tuesday.

Erdogan, for his part, said that recent local elections in his country was "Turkish people's response to the baseless allegations against his party through the ballot boxes."

Erdogan claimed victory for his Islamic party in Sunday's key local elections.

Over the past months, Turkey has been experiencing a wide graft probe in which police detained many individuals, including the sons of three cabinet ministers, in Istanbul and Ankara. The Erdogan administration faced mass protests over a corruption scandal which Erdogan rejected as "dirty political tricks" before the key local elections.