BREAKINGBREAKING,
Third-placed candidate says he will support incumbent president in May 28 second round of voting.
Sinan Ogan, who came third in last week’s Turkish presidential election, has thrown his support behind incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the country’s decisive run-off.
The announcement by the nationalist candidate on Monday came days before Turks head to polls on May 28 to decide whether Erdogan or main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu will lead the country for the next five years.
In the first round of voting on May 14, Erdogan received 49.52 percent, falling just short of the majority needed to secure an outright victory.
Kilicdaroglu, the candidate of a six-party opposition alliance, got 44.88 percent. Ogan, backed by the ATA Alliance, finished third with 5.17 percent support and was eliminated.
Ogan, 55, a former academic, was the candidate of an alliance of right-wing parties led by the Victory Party, which is known for its anti-immigrant stance in Turkey, the world’s biggest host of refugees.
Kilicdaroglu has pledged to roll back much of Erdogan’s sweeping changes to Turkish domestic, foreign and economic policies, including reversing an unorthodox economic programme to address a cost-of-living crisis.
Erdogan has said a vote for him in the runoff is a vote for stability.
Analysts say Ogan’s support should give Erdogan a boost but also divide Ogan’s supporters. The Victory Party will separately announce its own stance on the runoff on Tuesday.
This is a breaking story. More to follow.
Sumber: www.aljazeera.com
