Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has officially applied to the Supreme Electoral Council (CEC) for registration as a candidate for the upcoming May 14 election. Representatives of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party arrived at the CEC on Tuesday to hand over documents for his registration, local television channels reported live.
To date, 18 politicians have announced their plans to run for the highest state office. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chairman of the main opposition People's Republican Party, is expected to be Erdogan's main rival.
Along with the AKP, representatives of the Nationalist Movement Party, which is in alliance with the ruling party, also arrived at the Central Election Commission. They stated that the parties decided to nominate Erdogan as a single candidate and submitted all the necessary documents to the CEC as required by law.
The CEC will accept candidate applications for another two hours. Later Tuesday, the head of the commission will announce the final list of approved presidential candidates.
Turkey's presidential elections will be held on May 14, along with the parliamentary elections. A presidential candidate must get more than 50% of the vote to win in the first round. Otherwise, there will be a second round, with the two candidates who received the highest support in the first. The previous presidential election was held on June 24, 2018. Erdogan won with 52.6% of the vote.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of RF
Based on materials TASS