Opposition urges prime minister to resign over nomination for presidency

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials have declined opposition calls for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to resign, following his nomination for the presidential elections, announced on July 1.

“Prime Minister Erdoğan’s resignation due to his candidacy is out of the question,” Deputy Prime Minister Emrullah İşler told reporters on July 2.  

AKP Deputy Chair Numan Kurtulmuş, meanwhile, said there were “no legal obstacles” to Erdoğan remaining in his duties as prime minister and chair of the party until Aug. 28.

However, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deputy Chair Oktay Vural told reporters that Erdoğan should resign “in both legal and moral terms.”

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Hasip Kaplan also said his continuation as prime minister was “unethical.”

Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had been the first to call on Erdoğan to resign on July 1, hours after the AKP announced his nomination.