Four Turkish parties unite to contest landmark polls

Four Turkish opposition parties Saturday announced they had formed a coalition to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in snap elections on June 24.

After the landmark vote, a new presidential system agreed in an April 2017 referendum will come into force, which the opposition says will give the head of state authoritarian powers.

Lawmaker Bulent Tezcan of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) announced the "Alliance for the Nation". His secular party is joining forces with the newly-founded nationalist Good Party (IYI), the Islamic-leaning Felicity Party (SP) and the centre-right Democrat Party (DP) in a bid to weaken the ruling party's 16-year dominance in parliament.

The alliance will run against the People's Alliance of Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Their alliance is supported by the far-right Islamic-leaning Great Unity Party, whose candidates will run under the ruling party's ticket.

The opposition alliance will only jointly contest the legislative election. Three parties in the bloc are fielding their own candidates for the presidential election.

Should Erdogan win, he will receive another five-year mandate which would allow him to press on with a transformation of Turkey that began when he first became prime minister in 2003.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which is strongly hostile to Erdogan, has named charismatic former leader Selahattin Demirtas as its presidential candidate, even though he is currently behind bars.