Baku, Azerbaijan, April 7
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan can be nominated as a candidate for the presidential elections, a founding board member of the Justice and Development Party, Salih Kapusuz said in his interview to TRT Haber TV channel.
The results of the municipal elections showed that the country's prime minister is a worthy candidate for the presidential elections, according to Kapusuz.
The country's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc also earlier said that the great support of the Turkish people and the results of the municipal elections give ground to say that Turkish prime minister can be elected president if his candidacy is nominated.
If Erdogan nominates his candidacy for president, we can say that the country's current President Abdullah Gul will also support his candidacy, according to Arinc.
The presidential elections in Turkey have been scheduled for August 10, 2014.
If none of the candidates gathers 51 percent of votes in the first round, the second round will take place on August 24.
As distinct from the previous presidential elections, the Turkish president will be elected by people, but not by the parliament as of 2014, according to the results of a referendum held in 2007. The Turkish president will be elected for five-year term instead of the previous seven-year term, according to the referendum results.
The Turkish opposition is expected to nominate a single candidate for the presidential elections.
Translated by L.Z.
Edited by C.N.