Erdogan announces elections in May, sticking to previous plan for vote despite quake

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday said the presidential elections would be held on May 14, sticking to his previous plan for the race despite the February 6 devastating earthquake that killed more than 45,000 in his country. 

 

“This nation will do what is necessary on May 14, God willing,” Erdogan said in a speech to MPs from his ruling AK Party in parliament, in an apparent reference to elections seen as his biggest ever political challenge since rising to power 20 years ago. 

 

Before the disaster, Erdoğan’s rating had been eroded in recent years by soaring inflation and a slump in the lira that hit living standards in Turkey.