ANKARA: Turkiye’s six-party opposition alliance said it would announce its joint candidate next week to challenge President Tayyip Erdogan in the presidential election, with a little more than two months to go before the vote in May.
The alliance said it would announce its candidate on Monday, although there are signs of discord about the choice and other issues in the nationalist IYI Party, the second largest party in the alliance. It said it would hold talks on Friday.
The opposition has failed in previous national votes to pose a serious challenge to Erdogan, who has been in power for two decades but who has seen his popularity wane amid a cost-of-living crisis even before last month’s earthquakes that killed 45,000 people in Turkiye.
Erdogan indicated on Wednesday that presidential and parliamentary elections would be held on May 14, sticking to a previous plan for the vote and undeterred by the earthquakes that were followed by criticism of his government’s response.
The leaders of the six opposition parties met on Thursday with the expectation that they would agree on a joint candidate, who was widely expected to be Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
“We have reached a common understanding concerning our joint presidential candidate for the 13th presidential election and the roadmap for the transition process,” the alliance said.
The statement, signed by all six party leaders, said they would brief their parties’ executive boards before meeting again on Monday “to share the final statement with the public.”
Media reports said party leaders largely voiced support for Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of Republican People’s Party (CHP), although they said there was still opposition to his candidacy within the IYI Party of Meral Aksener.
Aksener was set to chair a meeting of the IYI Party’s general administration board at 1030 GMT and make a statement.
“There are different opinions about what comes next. It is better not to go into details at this stage. I cannot say that we are satisfied with the point reached. Today will be critical,” said an IYI Party official, who declined to be named.
He said Kilicdaroglu was a strong candidate, but other candidates should be discussed. The CHP mayors of Istanbul and Ankara have been mooted as candidates and polls have indicated they could perform better than Kilicdaroglu against Erdogan.
A CHP official, who declined to be named, said there was broad agreement on selecting Kilicdaroglu.
“We don’t expect any problems anymore. This decision will be made by consensus. I don’t want to consider any other option,” he said.
Erdogan’s government has faced criticism for its handling of the emergency response to the earthquake, adding to what was already expected to be his biggest electoral challenge of his two decades in power as soaring inflation hits living standards.
The opposition has cooperated more closely since its success in taking control of major municipalities, including Istanbul and Ankara, from Erdogan’s ruling AK Party in 2019 local elections.
But reports of discord within the opposition alliance have raised doubts about its ability to capitalize on the erosion in Erdogan’s popularity shown by the opinion polls.
Turkish opposition to announce election candidate amid signs of discord
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Turkish opposition to announce election candidate amid signs of discord
- The opposition has failed in previous national votes to pose a serious challenge to Erdogan
- Erdogan indicated on Wednesday that presidential and parliamentary elections would be held on May 14
Tunisia-Libya border crossing closed due to clashes
- Libya’s interior ministry said “outlaws” had attacked the border, which sees Libyans often going to Tunisia for medical treatment
TUNIS: Tunisia and Libya have closed a major border crossing at Ras Jdir due to armed clashes, Tunisian state TV and Libyan authorities said.
Libya’s interior ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that “outlaws” had attacked the border, which sees a large flow of Libyans often going to Tunisia for medical treatment and trucks with goods coming in the opposite direction.
“This action carried out by these outlaw groups will not be tolerated, and legal measures and the most severe penalties will be taken against those involved,” the Tripoli-based ministry said, without giving further details.
Libya has had little peace since a 2011 uprising and is split between eastern and western factions, with rival administrations governing each area.
Unverified footage on social media showed a burning vehicle at Ras Jdir and people running, with the sound of gunfire.
The ministry said on Sunday it had deployed security forces at the border to combat smuggling and insecurity.
Tunisia’s Tataouine Radio said late on Monday that Tunisia closed the crossing for the safety of citizens going to Libya.
Qatar: An Israeli operation in Rafah will result in ‘atrocities’ that have not been seen
DOHA: An Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip’s southern city of Rafah would result in major destruction and “atrocities” that have not been seen in the conflict, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said on Tuesday.
Qatar is cautiously optimistic about the Gaza ceasefire talks, he added during a press conference in Doha.
UN reports a 35 percent increase in people affected by violence in South Sudan
- There is a 35 percent increase in the number of victims reported from the previous quarter
- Violence caused by ethnic tensions and disputes over resources such as land has increased in various parts of the country
The UN Mission in South Sudan, or UNMISS, documented 233 incidents of violence affecting 862 people. Of that, 406 were killed, 293 were injured, 100 were abducted and 63 subjected to conflict-related sexual violence, it said in a report released Monday.
It was a 35 percent increase in the number of victims reported from the previous quarter.
South Sudan is to hold elections later this year, the first since a 2018 peace deal between President Salva Kiir and his former rival, Riek Machar, that ended a five-year conflict that killed hundreds of thousands.
Violence caused by ethnic tensions and disputes over resources such as land has increased in various parts of the country in recent months, particularly in the oil-rich region of Abyei.
The head of UNMISS, Nicholas Haysom, said it is “doing all it can to prevent violence and build peace in the affected areas” and urged the South Sudan government to intervene and “resolve underlying grievances and build peace.”
It said it has conducted at least 10,000 peacekeeping patrols by land, air and boat over the past year.
South Sudan, one of the world’s youngest nations, also suffers from drought and flooding, making living conditions difficult for residents.
The World Food Program in its latest country brief said South Sudan “continues to face a dire humanitarian crisis” due to violence, economic instability, climate change and an influx of people fleeing the conflict in neighboring Sudan.
Israel hits Hezbollah arms depots in Syria: war monitor
- Strikes have increased since Israel’s war with Palestinian militant group Hamas, a Hezbollah ally, began on October 7
BEIRUT: Israeli raids hit warehouses storing weapons for the Lebanese Hezbollah group in Syria Tuesday, a war monitor said, as a Syrian military source said air defenses had intercepted several missiles.
Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes in Syria since civil war broke out in 2011, targeting Iran-backed forces including Hezbollah as well as Syrian army positions.
The strikes have increased since Israel’s war with Palestinian militant group Hamas, a Hezbollah ally, began on October 7.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the latest strikes near the capital Damascus Tuesday had destroyed weapons and ammunition, causing secondary explosions and fires.
A military source quoted by Syrian state media said Israeli “air aggression” had targeted several military positions near Damascus.
“Our air defenses took action and shot down several missiles,” the source added.
The Britain-based Observatory said it was the second such strike in two days, coming after raids on Sunday hit another Hezbollah weapons depot and a separate site near Damascus.
Earlier this month, an Israeli strike reportedly killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard and two other people in Banias on Syria’s Mediterranean coast.
The Israeli army said last week it had hit about 4,500 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and Syria over the past five months.
Israel rarely comments on individual strikes but has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to expand its presence in Syria.
Israeli airstrikes kill 20 in Gaza, Palestinian officials say
- In Deir Al-Balah, a town in central Gaza about 14 km (8.6 miles) south of Gaza City, the sounds of explosions mixed with thunder, and rain added to the miseries of displaced families in tent camps
CAIRO: Twenty Palestinians were killed in the early hours of Tuesday in Israeli air strikes on Rafah and central parts of the Gaza Strip, Gaza health officials said.
In the southern Gaza city of Rafah near the Egyptian border, where over 1 million Palestinians have sought shelter, 14 people were killed and dozens others wounded in strikes that hit several houses and apartments, Gaza medical officials said.
Six more people died in another air strike on a house in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, they added.
In Deir Al-Balah, a town in central Gaza about 14 km (8.6 miles) south of Gaza City, the sounds of explosions mixed with thunder, and rain added to the miseries of displaced families in tent camps.
“We are no longer able to distinguish between the sounds of thunder and bombings,” Shaban Abdel-Raouf, a father of five in Deir Al-Balah, said via a chat application.
“We used to await the rain and pray to God if it was late. Today we pray it doesn’t rain. The displaced people have enough miseries,” he added.
The conflict, now in its sixth month, began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel’s assault has killed more than 31,000 Gazans, according to Palestinian health officials.
Negotiations for a ceasefire in the war were due to resume on Monday with an Israeli delegation heading to Qatar.
“We are looking forward to the good news from Qatar. Will it happen this time? Will they seal a deal? Over 2 million people in Gaza are praying they do,” said Abdel-Raouf.