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News > World

Turkey: Erdogan Promises 'Political History' in Snap Elections

  • Erdogan has been in power for 15 years.

    Erdogan has been in power for 15 years. | Photo: Reuters FILE

Published 29 April 2018
Opinion

Former Interior Minister Meral Aksener is being touted as Erdogan’s most formidable opponent.

Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan has unofficially kicked off his re-election campaign on Saturday, Reuters has reported.

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Turkey: Erdogan Announces Early Election Date

“I believe we will make a political history on June 24 with record votes both on parliamentary and presidential elections,” Erdogan, who has not yet declared his candidacy, said during a rally.

Erdogan called the elections more than a year early, saying Turkey needed a more powerful presidency to confront economic challenges and the war in Syria. He promised his supporters victory in the upcoming snap polls. “I believe we will make a political history on June 24 with record votes both on parliamentary and presidential elections,” Erdogan stated.

If Erdogan wins he will assume the presidency with new sweeping executive powers that were approved by a referendum last year. Erdogan has been in power for 15 years.

Former Interior Minister Meral Aksener is being touted as Erdogan’s most formidable opponent. A candidate is required to get more than 50 percent of the votes to win the first round of the Turkey election. Pre-election polls are trending heavily in favor of a possible second round, which would be on July 8.

Aksener heads the Iyi Party (Good). Other major candidates are incarcerated pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) candidate Selahattin Demirtas and leader of main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

After much speculation, former President Abdullah Gul, a founding member of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), has ruled himself out of the running.

“At a time when I have great worries for the future, I had said that I would not fail to do my part if a broad consensus was reached,” Gul commented. “Because this was not achieved, my candidacy is no longer in question.”

Gul explained that he had failed to garner enough support among opposition parties to make victory possible.

The election will be conducted under emergency rule, imposed following a failed 2016 coup. Under emergency rule, the government is allowed to bypass parliament in passing new laws as well as suspend rights and freedoms.

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