Sinan Oğan, Turkey’s nationalist presidential candidate who finished third in Sunday’s election, said he could only support main opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in the runoff if he agrees to offer no concessions to a pro-Kurdish party, Reuters reported.
Oğan won 5.2 percent in Sunday’s first round of the presidential election. President Tayyip Erdogan, who led after the Sunday vote, and Kılıçdaroğlu will take part in the runoff, set for May 28.
“We will consult with our voter base for our decision in the runoff. But we already made clear that the fight against terrorism and sending refugees back are our red lines,” Oğan, who took 5.2 percent of the initial vote, told Reuters in an interview on Monday.
Oğan, who was nominated by a group of ultranationalist parties, received nationwide support that was more than expected, which led to comments that his support for either Erdoğan or Kılıçdaroğlu will determine the outcome of the runoff.
According to analysts, both Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu will try to court Oğan, but conservative Erdoğan has the upper hand.