The leader of Turkey’s anti-immigrant Victory Party has backed opposition presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, potentially bolstering an opponent trying to close the gap to defeat Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sunday’s runoff.
Umit Ozdag, head of the nationalist Victory Party, which won 2.2% of the vote in the May 14 parliamentary election, urged his supporters to support Kilicdaroglu in the run-off, scheduled for May 28, in which Erdogan seeks to extend his rule from two decades.
“We have decided to support Mr Kilicdaroglu in the second round of presidential elections,” Ozdag told a press conference in Ankara, alongside Kilicdaroglu. The support could balance out another that Erdogan received on Monday from Sinan Ogan, a candidate for the presidency of the far-right alliance led by the Victory Party.
Ogan came in third with 5.2% of the vote, behind Erdogan with 49.5% and Kilicdaroglu with 44.9%.
The scramble for support from the right reflects higher-than-expected support for the nationalists on May 14. Analysts say that many remain undecided and could be decisive for victory in the second round.
Ozdag said his party and Kilicdaroglu had agreed on a plan to deport migrants within a year “in line with international law and human rights”.
Ozdag said he held similar talks with Erdogan’s AK Party (AKP) but decided not to support him because his plans did not involve the repatriation of migrants.
Turkey is the second country that receives the most refugees in the world, with about five million immigrants, of which 3.3 million are Syrians, according to data from the country’s Ministry of the Interior.
(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever, Ali Kucukgocmen and Burcu Karakas)
Source: CNN Brasil
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