Secularism in Turkey

İYİ (Good) Party Chair Meral Akşener has said her party does not object to a dialogue between the Republican People's Party (CHP) and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) but that any negotiation for forming a government such as a ministry distribution is out of the question.

A key opposition party rejoined Turkey's six-party alliance on Monday after a compromise was found over the nomination of a joint candidate to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in elections scheduled for May.

A six-party alliance on Monday nominated main opposition party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu as its common candidate to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in elections in May, ending months of uncertainty and bickering that had frustrated their supporters.

Left to right, Mansur Yavas, Ekrem Imamoglu, Meral Aksener and Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Photo/Illustration: BIRN

However, in a sign of continued divisions, it has been revealed that Meral Aksener, leader of the Good Party, the second biggest in the alliance, opposed the candidacy of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party, CHP.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu reiterated his readiness to run in the next presidential elections as the candidate of the Nation's Alliance if the opposition agrees on his name.

"If there is an agreement on my name, I have no right to object," Kılıçdaroğlu said in an interview with FOX TV on Feb. 3.

The leaders of the six oppositional parties held their 11th meeting on Jan. 26 to start deliberations for choosing a joint presidential candidate to race against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the mid-May polls.

The İYİ (Good) Party will launch a massive mobilization so that the youngsters can vote in May 14 polls, the party's chairwoman Meral Akşener has said, criticizing the government for choosing this date to avoid mass participation of the youth in the elections.

A parliamentary commission has approved a constitutional amendment package tabled by the ruling alliance that stipulates lifting restrictions against women wearing headscarf in public and private spaces, and strengthening the family structure.

A parliamentary panel has begun deliberations over the headscarf bill amid ongoing disagreements between the government and the opposition parties.

The Turkish parliament's Constitutional Commission completed the first round of the talks late Jan. 19 with the plan to continue deliberations on Jan. 24.

The main opposition party leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, has expressed his confidence that Türkiye will enter in a new era after the May 14 polls in which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the joint oppositional candidate will race for the presidency.