Former Turkish presidential candidate from the nationalist alliance ATA Sinan Ogan announced that he would support the current head of state Recep Erdogan in the second round of elections. About this on Monday, May 22, writes the newspaper Hyrriyet.
Ogan said that he held talks with both Erdogan and his rival, opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
“As a result of these negotiations, I declare that we will support the Republican Alliance candidate [Erdogan]. I invite those who voted for us to support Mr. Erdogan,” Ogan said.Hurriyet: former Turkish presidential candidate to announce support for Erdogan in the second round Former Turkish presidential candidate from the Ata Alliance (Ataturk Alliance) Sinan Ogan… 22 May 09:12
Previously, he explained that during the negotiations, the priority conditions for him would be the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, countering terrorism and combating natural disasters.
The second round of presidential elections in Turkey will take place this Sunday, May 28.
To win in the first round, held on May 14, it was necessary to overcome the threshold of 50% – neither Erdogan (he won 49.52% of the vote) nor Kılıçdaroglu (44.88%) managed to do this.
Sinan Ogan took third place with a score of 5.17%. The last to finish was Muharrem Ince, who was supported by only 0.43% of voters – however, he himself withdrew his candidacy before the vote, but his name was not deleted from the ballots.close 100% Alina Dzhus/Gazeta.Ru
Erdogan won elections in four of the seven regions of the country, but lost in large cities: Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Antalya favored Kılıçdaroğlu. At the same time, the incumbent president was the leader in the number of votes among Turkish voters abroad, RBC notes.
Who is Sinan Ogan
55-year-old Sinan Ogan participated in the presidential elections in Turkey for the first time. The politician of Azerbaijani origin in 2011-2015 was a member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
In 2015, he was expelled from this party, but appealed against this decision in court and was reinstated in November of the same year. However, in March 2017, he was expelled again.
Ogan again tried to challenge this decision in court, but this time his claim was rejected. The reason for Ogan’s expulsion was his statements in which he criticized the party’s policy. However, according to the media, the real reason could be Ogan’s claim to leadership in the MHP, which has long been headed by Devlet Bahceli. “We’ve already shot ourselves in the legs and lungs.” Hungary saw two dangers in the 11th package of sanctions Budapest refused to support restrictive measures against Russian nuclear energy and considers… 22 May 21:41
In the 2023 elections, he became a candidate from the right-wing bloc and after the first round was nicknamed the “kingmaker” in the press, because, according to some political scientists, it is his electorate that supposedly will decide the outcome of the election campaign.
Ogan criticized both Erdogan and Kılıçdaroğlu, saying that they failed to solve the problems facing Turkey.
The politician is also known for calling for more active military intervention in Syria. In addition, he criticized Russia, arguing that its actions in Syria and the support provided to the President of the Arab Republic, Bashar al-Assad, pose a threat to Turkey’s security.
How many years has Erdogan ruled Turkey
The current Turkish leader has been in office since 2014, but before that, since 2003, he served as the country’s prime minister. After the adoption of a new constitution in 2018, Turkey became a presidential-parliamentary republic.
In 2022, the opposition stated that Erdogan could not participate in new elections, because after the adoption of the new constitution and after four years in office, he was re-elected ahead of schedule in 2018.
However, the Turkish Ministry of Justice considered that, according to the new amendments, Erdogan participated in only one election, and not two, and therefore had the right to run for the 2023 elections. Erdogan himself later said that he would not go to a third term if he won the current race.