Erdogan’s bid to stay in power as Turkey’s president just got harder

A candidate in Turkey’s presidential election announced Thursday that he is withdrawing from the race, a move that could strengthen his main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Muharrem Ince, leader of the center-left Tanah Fatherland Party, is one of four contenders for the presidency in the May 14 election. Turkey will also hold parliamentary elections at the same time.

Ince has been widely criticized for undermining votes from the six-party National Alliance, which is united behind the candidacy of the main opposition party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, and may force the presidential race into a second round.

“I’m withdrawing from the race,” Ince told reporters outside party headquarters. “I did this for my country.”

Thin lead

Erdogan, who has led Turkey as prime minister and president since 2003, faces the most challenging election of his 20-year rule. Opinion polls have given Kilicdaroglu a slight lead over Erdogan, although no candidate is expected to get more than the 50 percent of votes needed to be elected in the first round.

“Of course, it’s impossible to know why he resigned. Honestly, I’m sad,” Erdogan said during an election rally in Ankara. “Now, we will continue with the remaining candidates. What is important is the decision of my people.”

Ince has polled around eight percent of the vote when the candidacy was first announced, but the popularity ratings have since dropped to around two percent, according to opinion polls.

Ince said the Fatherland Party, which was formed in 2021, would still advance in the parliamentary elections, and he called for votes for the party “from every household.”

The firebrand politician has not said he is resigning in favor of Kilicdaroglu, but analysts say the resignation will benefit the Nation Alliance.

Members of the Nation Alliance welcomed Ince’s decision, and Kilicdaroglu invited him to join the opposition coalition.

“Let’s leave behind old grudges, old grievances,” Kilicdaroglu wrote on Twitter.

The 58-year-old former physics teacher previously ran against Erdogan in the 2018 presidential election, according to the ticket of Kilicdaroglu’s main opposition party, the CHP. He got about 30 percent of the vote, but later broke away from the party.

“He will have no excuse if he loses the election,” Ince said, in an apparent reference to Kilicdaroglu.

Remaining in the presidential race with Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu is former academic Sinan Ogan, 55, who has the support of an anti-migrant party.