Turkish opposition agrees on candidate to challenge Erdogan

A six-party alliance in Turkey has 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.

The alliance tapped the leader of the pro-secular, center-left Republican People’s Party, or CHP, hours after a key member of the grouping — who had rejected Kilicdaroglu’s candidacy — agreed to a compromise solution and returned to the coalition.

Turkey is headed toward pivotal presidential and general elections on May 14 that could shift the country toward a more democratic course or extend Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade.

The elections are Erdogan’s toughest during his 20-year rule and come amid economic turmoil and criticism of the government’s response to a devastating earthquake last month.