Source: Al Jazeera [Qatar state media]
“Turkish presidential election candidate Muharrem Ince, one of four contesting Sunday’s vote, said he was withdrawing from the race, in a potential boost to the main rival of President Tayyip Erdogan. ‘I’m withdrawing my candidacy,’ Ince told reporters. ‘I am doing this for my country.’ Before his withdrawal on Thursday, Ince was one of four candidates in the vote, alongside Erdogan, his main opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu and Sinan Ogan. A survey earlier showed Erdogan lagging Kilicdaroglu by more than five percentage points ahead of the election. In a statement, Ince blamed an apparent smear campaign against him as the reason behind his decision to pull out from the race.” (05/11/23)