Erdogan returns $500 donation made by his rival

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned down a financial donation by his rival presidential candidate Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, his lawyer said.

According to Ali Ozkaya, lawyer of presidential hopeful Erdogan, the latter returned a $500 financial donation to his campaign by Ihsanoglu, who wired the amount to the bank account of Erdogan’s presidential campaign.

“We returned the amount to Mr Ihsanoglu – based on instructions by Erdogan – thanking him for it,” Ozkaya told the Anadolu news agency.

The presidential elections scheduled for August 10 in Turkey is the first since the constitutional amendments of 2010, which allowed the public, rather than the parliament, to elect the president.

Three candidates are running in the elections, including Erdogan – candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party, Ihsanoglu – candidate of the opposition, and Salahuddin Demirtas – of the Democratic People’s Party.