Turkish election countdown: Tayyip Erdogan’s opponent to be announced in February

The countdown to the elections in Turkey expected to be held in May has begun and the six-party alliance of the Turkish opposition is set to announce its presidential candidate in February who will challenge the president Tayyip Erdogan on February.

As Unal Cevikoz, an advisor to Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the largest opposition party, said:The name of the presidential candidate (of the six parties in the opposition alliance) will probably be announced sometime in February».

The six-party alliance is seeking to draw up a unified platform, but has yet to agree on a candidate to challenge Erdogan for the presidency.

The two largest opposition parties, the CHP and the center-right nationalist Yi Party (Good Party), have allied with four smaller parties with a plan to seek to annul Erdogan’s executive presidency and return the country to its previous parliamentary system.

Cevikoz, as reported by the Athens News Agency, stated that the leaders of the six opposition parties are to present their proposals on January 30 in two documents for a transition period towards a parliamentary system and their government programme.