ANKARA
Turkey's opposition Republican People's Party has railed against the "unfair" presidential election and accused the ruling Justice and Development Party of using state funds to back their candidate’s bid for the presidency.
"An unfair presidential election campaign between candidates goes on," Deputy Chairman Haluk Koc told a press conference on Wednesday.
His party and the Nationalist Movement Party have chosen former head of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu as their candidate. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is standing for the ruling party.
Koc added: “On one hand he [Erdogan] is arrogant and travels using the government horse, donkey and airplane while on the other we have modest candidates with limited resources for their campaign.”
The August 10 election will be the first time the electorate has directly chosen Turkey’s president.
Peoples' Democracy Party's presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtas has previously said his party will rely on people power rather than on economic support.
Koc also called on voters to support their candidate financially. Individual donations are limited to 9,000 Turkish liras ($4,300) and only Turkish citizens are able to donate.
Ihsanoglu is an impartial candidate who does not belong to any party who "will ensure trust and peace domestically and respectability abroad," Koc added.
The parties supporting Ihsanoglu unveiled their ‘Bread for Ekmeleddin’ slogan with an image of a Turkey-shaped wheat field. Bread is an important symbol in Turkish culture symbolizing fairness, equality and earning a livelihood.
Slogans about ‘planting’ love, respect, wealth and abundance will also be used in the campaign.
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