Turkey’s opposition chooses candidate to challenge Tayyip Erdogan in May election
Turkey’s often divided opposition parties have come together to choose a single candidate to face President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May’s election. Kemal Kilicdaroglu leads the main secular opposition party, the centre-left Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Polls suggest a tight race in a country highly polarised after two decades of Mr Erdogan’s authoritarian rule. Economic crisis and errors during last month’s earthquake may make him more vulnerable than in previous elections.
A huge crowd of supporters cheered Mr. Kilicdaroglu, a former civil servant, as he was chosen by a six-party opposition alliance. Known as “Gandhi Kemal” or “Turkey’s Gandhi” for his resemblance to Indian civil rights leader Mahatma Gandhi, the quiet-spoken 74-year-old offers a radically different vision in both substance and style to the fiery, charismatic Mr. Erdogan’s.
He promised his supporters that he would govern Turkey through consensus and consultation.
