Turkey: Erdogan confirms his candidacy for the presidential elections of June 2023
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unsurprisingly announced his candidacy for the presidential election scheduled for June 2023 on Thursday, discarding at this point the possibility of an early election demanded by his opponents.
“Here, I say: the candidate of the People’s Alliance is Tayyip Erdogan”, he said from Izmir (West), referring to the alliance between his conservative AKP and the nationalist MHP.
Delegates from his party greeted the announcement with applause and chanting the president’s name.
The head of state, who reiterated that the vote would be held as scheduled in mid-June 2023, then addressed the leader of the main opposition party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
“Stop running. (…) You can no longer postpone the question of your candidacy”, said Mr. Erdogan, in power since 2003 as Prime Minister and then as president.
Currently composed of six parties, the opposition alliance has not yet nominated its candidate to face Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to a poll conducted in April by the Turkish Metropole Institute, Erdogan could be defeated in the second round by several of his potential rivals.
The Head of State, who has built his electoral success over the last two decades on his promises of prosperity, must now contend with inflation, which soared to 73.5% over one year in May.
