Turkey's opposition alliance fractures, fails to agree on challenger to Erdogan
The Iyi Party will not support the opposition coalition’s top candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the presidential elections.
Turkey’s nationalist Good (Iyi) Party leader Meral Aksener announced on Friday that her party would not support the opposition coalition's joint candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu to challenge Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the critical presidential elections expected to be held on May 14, dealing a blow to the opposition's chances of winning against the country’s strongman incumbent.
Striking an unusually harsh tone, Aksener said the insistence of the five other parties in the six-member opposition bloc on Kilicdaroglu’s candidacy was not a rational choice.
“Personal ambitions were given preference over [the interests of] Turkey … I regret to say that as of yesterday, the [opposition coalition] has lost its ability to represent the will of the nation,” said Aksener.
Her remarks have been largely interpreted as a sign that her party is stepping out of the opposition bloc.
