Baku, Azerbaijan, April 9
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
The Turkish president can be elected in the first round of the voting, according to the political adviser to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Yalcin Akdogan, Turkish Haber7 TV channel reported on April 9.
Turkey's ruling party has several candidates for the post of the country's president, according to the prime minister's political adviser.
Akdogan believes that the candidate from the ruling party will be elected in the first round of the voting and therefore, the need for the second round of the presidential elections will fall away.
"The results of the municipal elections in Turkey showed that the people trust the ruling party and it will have a positive impact on the course of the presidential elections," Yalcin Akdogan said.
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.
Earlier, the deputy head of the ruling Justice and Development Party, Mehmet Ali Sahin said that if the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is elected the president, then the current President Abdullah Gul could take the prime minister's post.
He said President Abdullah Gul has extensive political experience, and the ruling party would like to benefit from this experience.
The member of founding board of the ruling Justice and Development Party Salih Kapusuz said earlier that Erdogan may be nominated for participation in the presidential elections.
Translated by L.Z.
Edited by C.N.