According to Turkish Minute the candidacy of Republican People’s Party (CHP) chair Kilicdaroglu was announced by Temel Karamollaoglu, leader of the Felicity Party (SP), who hosted the leaders of the parties in the bloc at SP headquarters in Ankara on Monday evening.
Kilicdaroglu, a former bureaucrat who has been serving as the CHP chairman since 2010, will run against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the presidential elections scheduled for May 14. Erdogan, who was first elected president in 2014, is seeking re-election.
A large crowd of people gathered in front of SP headquarters chanting slogans in favor of Kilicdaroglu's candidacy and declaring support for the opposition alliance.
The leaders of the six parties including IYI (Good) Party leader Meral Aksener appeared before the crowd together as Kilicdaroglu’s candidacy was being announced.
Aksener left the group on Friday in protest of an agreement of five parties in the bloc to nominate Kilicdaroglu as their presidential candidate instead of moving forward with her proposal to nominate either Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu or Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, both CHP members.
She decided to return to the bloc after meeting with Imamoglu and Yavas on Monday morning, suggesting instead that the two mayors serve as vice presidents if Kilicdaroglu is elected.
Aksener sparked the political crisis by insisting on the candidacy of either of the mayors because they are more popular among voters and also because, based on opinion survey results, they have a greater chance of winning against Erdogan.
Imamoglu and Yavas ended the years-long rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in their cities in the local elections of 2019. Some opinion surveys show that they enjoy more public support than Erdogan and are more likely to get elected if nominated for the presidency than Kilicdaroglu.
İmamoglu and Yavas turned down Aksener’s proposal on Friday to announce their candidacy, saying they support their leader Kilicdaroglu’s candidacy.
The CHP leader has been one of the fiercest critics of the government of Erdogan, whom he accused of widespread corruption and turning the country into a one-man regime.
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