Kılıçdaroğlu, Özdağ continue talks for election support

Victory Party Chair Ümit Özdağ said on May 23 that his party will continue discussions with Republican People's Party (CHP) leader and Nation Alliance's presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on the issue of lending support for his candidacy in the presidential election runoff.

Özdağ said he would meet with Kılıçdaroğlu late on May 23 and that they plan to make a statement together on May 24.

"Some face-to-face meetings are required to sign a memorandum for consensus," he told reporters referring to the text that the National Alliance and Victory party has been studying for a possible endorsement of Kılıçdaroğlu's candidacy.

"Although we have covered a very serious distance, we will hold another meeting with Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on his way back from [the southern quake-hit province of] Hatay today because it [talks] has not been concluded yet," Özdağ said.

"We hope that we will carry out the process that has developed so far positively at this stage as well," he added.

Commenting on Sinan Oğan's support to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for the May 28 polls, Özdağ said, "It is at his discretion. He does not bind the Victory Party. We think differently with Mr. Sinan on this issue. We leave it to the public's discretion."

"When we set out with Mr. Sinan, we set out to close the gates of hell. We are still trying to close the gates of hell," he said.

The four-party ATA Alliance, whose presidential candidate Sinan Oğan garnered 5.2 percent of votes in the first round of the presidential elections, has been dissolved, with its main components to make their individual decisions on who to support in the runoff presidential polls.

Oğan's statement came after the components of the ATA Alliance announced that...