Turkey's opposition forms troika to challenge Erdogan

Popular Istanbul and Ankara mayors to be VPs under Kilicdaroglu, with other party chiefs

Republican People’s Party Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, center, addresses the crowd alongside Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, left, and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu during a speech at party headquarters on March 6. © Republican People’s Party

SINAN TAVSAN, Nikkei staff writer

March 8, 2023 19:46 JST

ISTANBUL -- Turkey's six-party opposition coalition, Nation Alliance, has chosen Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the 74-year-old chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), as its joint presidential candidate. Flanked by two prominent and popular mayors as vice presidential candidates, he will seek to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

The voting date of May 14 will likely be confirmed when it is published in the official gazette on Saturday. That will kick off what is widely seen as one of the world's most consequential elections this year.