Turkey’s six-party opposition alliance declared Thursday that it had “reached a common understanding” on a candidate to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey’s crucial presidential elections in May, but it delayed an official announcement on who he is until next week.
The candidate is likely to be main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who is upheld by the five parties in the opposition platform. The stumbling block appears to be right-wing Iyi Party, the second-largest party in the coalition, which is not entirely persuaded that Kilicdaroglu is the right man to defeat Erdogan. Meral Aksener, the leader of Iyi, was in a meeting with her party members as of this writing.
“We have reached a common understanding on our presidential candidate and on a roadmap for the transition process,” their joint statement said, adding they would make a “final statement” on the topic on Monday.
The cryptic statement from the Table of Six, which brings the Republican People's Party (CHP) and Iyi together with Future and DEVA, offshoots of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Democrat Party and pro-Islamist Felicity Party, said that the leaders had agreed upon a common candidate and an action plan for the elections. It added that six leaders would come together Monday to make an official declaration after informing their party organs over the weekend.
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