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Istanbul: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed Sunday, May 14, as the date for holding the presidential and legislative elections in Turkey, during a meeting with young people in Bursa (west).
Erdogan said during this meeting, of which the Turkish presidency published a video recording, “I will use my powers to bring the election date closer to May 14.”
He pointed out that “they are not early elections (…) but rather this is an amendment to take into account the (date) of (university) exams.”
He pointed out that the electoral campaign will begin 60 days before the date, that is, on March 10.
Erdogan became prime minister in 2003, before amending the constitution and becoming a universally elected “president” in 2014.
The elections were initially scheduled for next June 18, but many observers expected the date to be closer, before Erdogan hinted this week as well.
Free elections
And on Wednesday, the Turkish president hinted that the presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey would be held on May 14, marking the “73rd anniversary” of the victory of the (conservative) Democratic Party in the first free elections in contemporary Turkey in the year 1950.
“Our nation will direct its response to the table of six (opposition) alliance on the same day after 73 years,” Erdogan said in televised remarks on Wednesday.
The “Six Table” is an alliance of six Turkish parties seeking to block the path to the presidency in front of Erdogan. Only the HDP did not join the coalition.
The opposition coalition is expected to announce a presidential candidate in February.
On May 14, 1950, the Democratic Party, which was founded in 1946 by Adnan Menderes, and his supporters who defected from the party of Mustafa Kemal “Ataturk”, won the elections before being overthrown ten years later in a military coup.
Erdogan has always compared himself to Mandres, who was sacked for a period of time as mayor of Istanbul and imprisoned for a short period in the nineties of the last century.
Setting May 14th as the date for the general elections is a message addressed to the conservative electorate.
