The third man in the Turkish election, Sinan Ogan, ultra-nationalist, says he is "open to dialogue" but could call for support for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the second round, he told AFP on Tuesday.
This dissident of the MHP party, allied to the camp of the outgoing president, obtained 5.17% of the vote in the first round of the presidential election, according to official results still unconfirmed.
Open to dialogue
Neither the Islamic-conservative president nor his main rival, Social Democrat Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, obtained the 50% needed to be elected in the first round. They will therefore face each other in a decisive second round on May 28.
Until then, Sinan Ogan, who is not affiliated with any political party, said he was open to dialogue with the two candidates. "A decision will be taken after discussions with Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kemal Kiliçdaroglu," he told AFP. "We could say that we do not support one or the other," said the former MP. Questioned by AFP, Erdogan's AK Party said it was not aware at this stage of a meeting between the head of state and Sinan Ogan.
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Sinan Ogan said he was not surprised by the number of votes he received on Sunday, which he attributed to "Turkish nationalists and young people, who find us more intellectual and who are tired of the old faces of politics". He also says he is in favour of a hard line on the Kurdish question and is opposed to "any form of terrorism". "I am opposed to any organisation that does not distance itself from terrorism," he said of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the main pro-Kurdish party, accused by the government of being linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). However, the HDP has called for support for the opposition candidate.
The good score recorded by Kiliçdaroglu's coalition, which includes the nationalists of the Good Party, is partly explained by the support given by the Kurdish vote. If he were to get closer to Sinan Ogan, Kiliçdaroglu could therefore alienate Kurdish voices.
