Turkey's ruling party calls for advancing presidential race: Reports

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The ruling Justice and Development Party in Turkey has called for the presidential election to be moved forward from June to May, but the opposition is against the idea, the Sabah newspaper reported on Friday, citing sources.

The 2023 Turkish general elections, presidential and parliamentary, are scheduled for June 18. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waited to reveal whether he would run for the presidency again until June 9, when he announced his candidacy during a meeting with his supporters.

Erdogan called on Turkey's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, and its leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu to announce their candidacies as soon as possible, but the opposition has not yet done so.

As the electoral process approaches, one of the most discussed issues is whether the elections will take place in May 2023. The Sabah newspaper said the ruling party is in favor of postponing the elections due to exams and summer holidays.

However, the opposition has issued a statement indicating that it will not support the proposal, the newspaper indicated.

According to the report, it is expected that Erdogan will use his powers to advance the elections, adding that the decision must be made no later than March 13.

This comes following protests against the political ban on the opposition mayor of the city of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, who is a possible candidate in the next presidential elections. 

A court sentenced Imamoglu on Wednesday to more than two years in prison and prevented him from practicing politics for the same period on charges of insulting members of the Supreme Electoral Council in 2019. But Erdogan denied his involvement in the verdict against Istanbul's Mayor.

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