Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party will announce its candidates for upcoming parliamentary elections on May 25, its spokesman said on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters in the capital Ankara, Mahir Unal said that a meeting to announce the party’s election candidates will be held on May 25.
Last month, Turkish parliament passed a bill calling for early elections on June 24.
“We will introduce you with our candidates and our campaign concept,” Unal said, adding AK Party‘s election songs will also be revealed during the meeting.
A total of 7,340 people have applied for being AK Party candidates at the elections, Unal said.
He also criticized 15 lawmakers of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), who last month joined newly-formed IYI (Good) Party and later moved back to the CHP.
Unal also said that the party was not planning to hold any rally in Europe except Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rally in Bosnia as there was a very limited time left in the elections.
On June 24, Turkey will hold both presidential and parliamentary elections.
Turkey's first popularly-elected President Erdogan has served at the top post since 2014. Before that, he served as prime minister, from 2003 to 2014.
Should he win the June 24 election, Erdogan would be Turkey's first leader under the presidential system, doing away with the prime minister's post, among other changes.
