Turkey's 'Gandhi': Opposition names Kilicdaroglu to take on Erdogan

Ankara, March 7

Turkey's opposition bloc has announced a presidential candidate to run against the incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the May elections.

The six-party Nation Alliance after hours-long negotiations picked Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition party, as their joint candidate, Felicity Party head Temel Karamollaoglu told a gathering in Ankara, Xinhua news agency reported.

Addressing the alliance's supporters, Republican People's Party leader Kilicdaroglu - also known as "Turkey's Gandhi" for his resemblance to Mahatma Gandhi, promised to appoint prominent bloc members as vice presidents if he was elected, including two party rivals and leaders of other allied parties.

The decision was made after Kilicdaroglu's major rivals, Ekrem Imamoglu and Mansur Yavas, said they would endorse his candidacy, saving the bloc from dissolution.

Earlier, Iyi Party leader Meral Aksener threatened to quit the bloc if it did not pick Imamoglu and Yavas, who serves as mayor of Istanbul and Ankara and are seen as hopefuls with larger voter base.