Erdogan starts campaigning for snap June elections

Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday unofficially kicked off his re-election campaign vowing to defeat the secularist opposition in “historic” snap elections he called for June.

Erdogan  who is yet to formally declare his candidacy, held what was his first campaign rally in the coastal city of Izmir, the stronghold of the secular CHP opposition party.

He promised thousands of flag-waving supporters victory in the presidential and parliamentary polls and declared the leader of the CHP, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a dictator.

I believe we will make a political history on June 24 with record votes both on parliamentary and presidential elections, Erdogan said.

If Erdogan wins, he will return to the presidency with new sweeping executive powers that were narrowly approved by referendum in 2017.

Erdogan last week called for elections more than a year earlier than scheduled as he said Turkey needed a more powerful presidency to confront economic challenges and the war in Syria.

The election will be conducted under emergency rule, imposed following a failed 2016 coup. 

To win in the first round, a candidate needs more than 50 percent of the votes. Polls indicate a second round is likely to happen and would be on July 8 if necessary.

Erdogan’s most credible challenge is seen coming from Meral Aksener, a former interior minister who last year founded the nationalist Iyi (Good) Party and has said she would run.

The CHP said its head is unlikely to run because it believes the president should not be a political party leader.

The pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP said jailed former co-leader Selahattin Demirtas will most likely to be its candidate.

Erdogan has won nearly a dozen elections and dominated Turkish politics since the Islamist-rooted AK party swept to power in 2002.

Reuters