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CHP leader and Erdoğan challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu
Photo: ADEM ALTAN / AFP
A six-party alliance has nominated CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as a joint candidate for May's election against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
This puts an end to months of uncertainty and arguments between the parties.
The parliamentary and presidential elections would actually be in June.
However, Erdoğan has announced that it will be brought forward to May 14.
The elections are seen as a test for the president, who has been in power for 20 years.
According to polls, his re-election is anything but certain.
They come amid economic turmoil and the country has criticized the government's response to February's devastating earthquake.
Meral Akşener, who leads the nationalist Iyi party, left the alliance on Friday over Kılıçdaroğlu's candidacy.
Her split from the alliance was seen as an important impetus for Erdoğan.
The former interior minister, whose party is the second largest in the opposition bloc, had reportedly preferred one of the popular mayors of Istanbul or Ankara over Kılıçdaroğlu.
74-year-old Kılıçdaroğlu has not won a single national election in the 13 years he has led the CHP.
The two mayors, both of whom belong to the CHP, score better against Erdoğan than Kılıçdaroğlu in polls.
According to official figures, Akşener returned to the alliance after a compromise was reached whereby Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas would be appointed vice presidents.
Yavas and Imamoğlu, who were elected leaders of their cities in 2019, met with Akşener on Monday, apparently to persuade them to return to the alliance.
“We have a choice before us.
Our people cannot tolerate separation,” Yavas told reporters.
The alliance wants to restore parliamentary democracy in Turkey and abolish the presidential system introduced by Erdoğan.
Excluded from the alliance is the pro-Kurdish Democratic People's Party HDP, the second largest opposition party.
The party is threatened with ban after the government cracked down on alleged links to the banned Kurdish Workers' Party PKK.
mgo/AP/dpa