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Turkish opposition candidate faces allegations in lead-up to local elections

The favored candidate to become mayor of Ankara has been charged with professional misconduct as a lawyer, but it seems the attempt to discredit him hasn't worked as planned.
Mansur Yavas, the candidate of Turkey's opposition running for the office of mayor of Ankara in local elections gives a press conference, on March 12, 2019 in Ankara. - Turkish prosecutors have prepared on indictment against main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) Ankara mayoral candidate Mansur Yava? over claims the politician abused his powers while acting as an arbitrator in a legal dispute, Cumhuriyet newspaper reported on March 11, 2019. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)        (Photo credit should re

ANKARA, Turkey — The electoral race for mayor of Turkey’s capital took a surprising turn today, when an attempt to discredit the leading opposition candidate, and presumed front-runner, appeared to collapse. A pro-government columnist published a withering evaluation of the personality at the center of the smear campaign.

The government has its back to the wall in the March 31 elections. Legions of voters are fed up with the soaring cost of food, 20% inflation and 12% unemployment. They are expected to vote against the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which has held Ankara city hall for the past 25 years.

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