ANKARA
The leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, said at a press conference Friday that the "president [to be elected] should not be shady and should embrace the entire nation."
Turkey is set to vote in presidential elections this August -- the first time that the country’s president will be elected by direct popular vote.
Kilicdaroglu added that for determining a presidential nominee, the party will meet with other parties and non-governmental organizations and wants to make the decision in the right way.
Kilicdaroglu also visited Friday the Turkish Bar Association where he conferred with the head of association over the decision of a presidential nominee.
Saying that the Turkish Bar Association is one of the most important bodies, Kilicdaroglu continued, "we want to listen to the demands of this institution, which defends justice and stands against unfairness."
Candidates for the August 10 presidential election can submit their applications to the country's elections authority from June 29 to July 3.
A candidate will need more than 50 percent of the popular vote to be elected in the first round. If no one receives the required percentage, there will be a second round on August 24 between the two candidates who received the most votes in the first.
Meanwhile, regarding the killing of a man during a protest in Istanbul, Kilicdaroglu said, "protests and demonstrations are the most natural rights; however, if these head towards violence the police might intervene, but should not use bullets that could kill people."
The man who was injured Thursday afternoon after being shot in the head near a protest area in Istanbul has died in hospital.
Ugur Kurt, 30, was attending a funeral procession in an Alevi prayer house in Okmeydani district when he was reportedly hit by a stray bullet.
The bullet was apparently fired during clashes between police and a group of demonstrators who gathered in Okmeydani to protest last week's coal mine tragedy in western Turkey, as well as the death of an Istanbul teenager, Berkin Elvan, who was fatally injured during 2013's Gezi Park protests.
www.aa.com.tr/en
