Ultranationalist Sinan Ogan announced on Monday that he will support incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the second round of Turkey's presidential election on Sunday.
"We will support Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan (...) in the second round. I invite our voters who voted for us in the first round to support Mr. Erdogan in the second round," Ogan, the third man in the presidential election, said in Ankara.
With 5.2% of the vote received in the first round on May 14, the tall fifty-year-old, dissident of the far-right MHP party, was courted by the two finalists of the election.
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A lead for Erdogan
Erdogan won 49.5 percent of the vote and his opponent, Social Democrat Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, 44.9 percent, a 2.5 million difference between the two.
"Our negotiations were conducted around the following principles: terrorism will be fought; a timetable will be established for the return of refugees; and Turkish state institutions will be strengthened," he said.
His result illustrates the surge of the conservative vote in favor of this election that gave the lead to outgoing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
It remains to be seen which candidate will go the 2.8 million votes gathered by Sinan Ogan, because part of his electorate intended to turn their backs on Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in power for twenty years.
With AFP
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