Ogan draws red line at Kurdish concessions for Turkey runoff
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Sinan Ogan, Turkey’s nationalist presidential candidate who came third in May 14, 2023 presidential election, said on Monday he could only support main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the runoff if he agrees to offer no concessions to a pro-Kurdish party, Reuters reported.
Ogan won 5.2 percent in May 14 first round of the presidential election. Current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and opposition’s main leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu will take part in the runoff, set for May 28.
“We will consult with our voter base for our decision in the runoff,” he said. “But we already made clear that the fight against terrorism and sending refugees back are our red lines,” Ogan told Reuters in an interview on Monday.
Turkey headed to the first runoff vote with both rivals Erdogan and Kılıcdaroglu failing to hit 50 percent threshold to win the presidential race outright.
Speaking in the early hours of Monday, Erdogan said he believed he had enough votes to win outright but said he would accept a runoff, and accused unnamed others of trying to “deceive the nation” by claiming they were in the lead.
As for Kilicdaroglu, he said, “Despite all of his lies and attacks, Erdogan did not receive the desired outcome. No one should be enthusiastic about this being a done deal. The election is not won on the balcony.”