The leader of Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, has announced that he is not opposed to becoming the opposition’s candidate in the upcoming presidential elections.
“I want to be a presidential candidate, but the main thing is the future of the country, not individuals. The chairman of any party can become a presidential candidate, but it is not the organisation that will decide that. What matters is that the candidate be chosen by the leaders of the 6 opposition parties,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, according to “Yeni Şafak”.
Earlier, at the initiative of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leaders of six opposition parties held meetings, which were attended by the head of the conservative-nationalist “Good” Party, Meral Akşener, the chairman of the right-wing conservative Sunni “Felicity” Party, Temel Karamollaoğlu, the leader of the Kemalist-conservative Democratic Party, Gültekin Uysal, the leader of the liberal “Democracy and Progress Party”, Ali Babacan, and Turkey’s former prime minister, the head of the “Future” Party, Ahmet Davutoğlu.
After the meeting, the six leaders of Turkey’s opposition parties made a statement about preparing a memorandum on transitioning the country to a “strengthened parliamentary system of government”.
Turkey’s next general elections — both presidential and parliamentary — are scheduled for 18 June 2023.
