Turkish presidential candidate withdraws his candidacy

Turkish presidential candidate Muharrem Ince, the head of the Memleket Party, announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy from the struggle for the highest post, Azernews reports via TASS.

His speech was broadcasted by local TV channels.

The presidential and parliamentary elections in Türkiye will be held on May 14, 2023.

Voters will elect a president for a term of five years. Early elections in the country were postponed due to the deadly earthquake. It is estimated that about 65 million voters will cast their votes in the elections (over 60 million in the country, and some 3.6 million abroad).

The president of Türkiye is directly elected through the two-round system, under which a candidate must obtain a simple majority (more than 50 percent) of the popular vote in order to be elected. If no candidate secures an overall majority outright, then a runoff is held between the two most voted-for candidates from the first round, the winner of which is then declared elected.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been the president of Türkiye since 2014.