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BLOOMBERG
Turkish presidential contender Muharrem Ince withdrew from Sunday’s election, narrowing the field of rivals to incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan and injecting fresh uncertainty into the contest over how his supporters will vote.
“I am withdrawing from the race. I am doing this for my homeland,†Ince told reporters in a press briefing in Ankara. He asked for “a vote from each household†for his Homeland Party in the simultaneous parliamentary vote.
Erdogan will now face main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and the nationalist Sinan Ogan. If no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote, the election will go to a run-off on May 28.
Ince’s supporters include people unhappy both with the president and the main opposition. He ran for president under Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), in 2018 but lost to Erdogan. He then became increasingly critical of the CHP and founded his Homeland Party in 2021.