Erdoğan’s presidential candidacy may be announced on June 15

BURSA

The AKP is waiting for the opposition parties to announce their candidates, Deputy PM Arınç says. (AA photo)

The presidential candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is almost obvious, but it might not be announced until June 15, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has said. 
The most likely candidate of the AKP is Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with numbers of Cabinet ministers having said that they would appreciate such a move. 
“We are not ready to announce [the candidate],” Arınç responded journalists in Bursa on May 31, adding that Erdoğan has spoken of making the name public as of June 15. 
The deputy prime minister also called on the opposition parties to announce their own candidates for the August election. 
“I think the AK Party is waiting for the opposition parties to announce their candidate,” he said. 
Numan Kurtulmuş, another deputy prime minister, backed Erdoğan’s possible candidacy. “If our prime minister decides to run for presidency, it is his natural right,” he said in Samsun on May 31. Adding that he believed Erdoğan would secure enough votes in the first round.