Turkish-Kurdish Islamist Party to Support Erdogan in Presidential Election

The Turkish-Kurdish Islamist Huda-Par Party will not nominate its own candidate for the presidential elections and will support the leader of the republic, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, party chairman Zakaria Yapiçioglu said. This was reported by CNN Turk.

“During the consultations that we had with our provincial and district organizations at the council meeting, we decided to support Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the 2023 presidential election and not nominate our own candidate,” he said (quoted by RIA Novosti).

Earlier in the day, RIA Novosti, citing a source close to the Turkish opposition, reported that the single candidate from the opposition People’s Alliance, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroglu, could win in the first round of the presidential election, but on condition that he will be supported by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP).

On March 10, Erdogan signed a decree scheduling general elections in the country for May 14. Earlier it was reported that the elections in Turkey will be held on June 18. Erdogan explained the postponement by the fact that on May 14, 1950, the Islamist Democratic Party of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, hanged in 1961 by the military, won the elections. These elections ended the sole rule of the Kemalists, whose successor is Turkey’s main opposition party, the CHP. In addition, university exams in Turkey begin on June 18, CNN Turk reports.

Kılıçdaroğlu, considered Erdoğan’s main rival, was officially nominated on March 6. According to the public opinion poll of the Areda Survey published on February 28, 49.8% of respondents are ready to vote for Erdogan, and only 21.7% for Kılıçdaroglu.