Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that he would announce his party’s nomination for upcoming presidential elections next week. “I will announce it on the day when my party holds its parliamentary group meeting,” Erdogan told reporters, adding that this would be either next Tuesday or Wednesday.The ten-day period to register presidential candidates ends at midnight next Wednesday. Erdogan, a conservative with an Islamist political past, did not say whether he would run for the post himself, a prospect that has struck at the heart of this Muslim country’s secular identity.
The prime minister was speaking after an eight-hour meeting of the executive board of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), which gave him full authority to decide on who their presidential candidate should be.
The AKP gave him full authority to decide on their future candidate for the upcoming presidential elections. “I should underline straight away that no candidate names were discussed,” Edibe Sozen, the AKP deputy chairwoman told reporters here after the eight-hour meeting. “The AKP executive board has given the chairman full authority to finalize the process and consultations with civic bodies will continue until the last day of registration” of presidential candidates on April 2.