Turkey's AK Party to nominate Erdogan as presidential candidate

The Turkish ruling party, the AK Party, has selected Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan as its candidate in the upcoming presidential elections, though it is yet to publicly announce the decision.

According to Mohamed Zahed Gul, an analyst close to the ruling party, the AK Party decided after consultations to nominate the party’s president Erdogan to the upcoming elections, slated for August.

The decision has been taken after the party’s “22nd Consultation and Assessment Meeting” in the western Turkey Afyonkarahisar province on Saturday.

The party will announce the decision later this month or next month “to avoid premature legal controversies,” Gul said.