Ex-presidential candidate may announce support for Erdogan

Türkiye’s ex-presidential candidate from the Ata Alliance ("Ataturk Alliance"), Sinan Ogan will announce on May 22 his support for Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the second round of presidential elections.

On May 22, Ogan "will not just make a statement, but will announce the points that he discussed with President Erdogan", Hürriyet newspaper reports, citing sources.

"These are the following points: not to change the first four articles of the Constitution. The prevention of attempts to remove the Turkic identity from the Constitution, the fight against all types of terrorist organisations and terrorism, the gradual planned deportation of asylum seekers, the development of economic policy in line with international markets and greater flexibility in the policy of interest rates," the report says.

Millions of voters went to the polls on May 14 to elect the country's president and members of its 600-seat parliament.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s People’s Alliance won a majority in parliament, while the presidential race is headed to a second round on May 28.

In the first round, no candidate won an outright majority, although Erdogan was leading.

Erdogan will face Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and joint candidate for the six-party opposition Nation Alliance, in the runoff vote.