In boost to opposition, Kurdish party won't field candidate
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish political party and its allies say they won’t field a candidate to run in the country’s May 14 presidential election
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s pro-Kurdish political party and its allies said Wednesday that they won't field a candidate to run in the country's May 14 presidential election, a move that could boost an opposition bloc's chances of unseating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
With Turkey entangled in economic turmoil and in the midst of a difficult recovery from a devastating earthquake last month, Erdogan is facing the toughest reelection bid of his two-decade rule as prime minister and as president.
A six-party opposition coalition known as the Nation Alliance has united behind the candidacy of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the secularist Republican People’s Party. The coalition has vowed to dismantle a presidential system that has concentrated a vast amount of powers in Erdogan’s hands. Critics say the system amounts to a “one-man rule” without checks and balances.
In announcing that the Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, wouldn't put up its own candidate for the presidency, co-chairperson Pervin Buldan didn't express outright support for Kilicdaroglu, but the decision was widely seen as the party's tacit backing of the anti-Erdogan bloc.
