Erdogan’s Former Ally Davutoglu Hints at Bid in 2023 Presidential Race

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, representing an alliance of six opposition parties, on Saturday described himself as a contender for the presidency at the next general election in 2023.

Davutoglu, who had also held the positions of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s adviser, foreign minister and leader of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) party, broke away in 2019 to form his own splinter party and challenge AKP at the ballot box next year.

"We [leaders of six opposition parties] became contenders when we created our parties. We all are contenders," the Yenicag newspaper quoted Davutoglu as saying about the six opposition parties.

Davutoglu said his Future Party would open to discussing the possibility of picking a single presidential candidate from the opposition alliance.

Erdogan formally announced his bid for another presidential term last week. He will be running as the candidate of the People’s Alliance of AKP and a loyalist far-right Nationalist Movement Party. The six opposition parties promised in February to curtail presidential powers and bolster the role of parliament.