One of the candidates for the Turkish elections withdraws 'in extremis' after being blackmailed into spreading a sex video
Muharrem Ince, one of the four candidates for Turkey's presidential elections this Sunday, has withdrawn this Tuesday from the race, something that may increase the options of the opposition leader, the Social Democrat Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, of defeating the current head of state, the Islamist Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ince's abandonment occurs after it was spread that he has allegedly been the victim of a blackmail attempt with a video of sexual content.
The most favorable polls gave Ince a maximum of 6% of the vote in April, a support that has dropped to around 2% in recent weeks.
Analysts estimate that the candidacy of Ince, who in 2018 was a candidate for the social democratic CHP party, mainly reduced support for Kiliçdaroglu, who the polls show victory this Sunday but with the risk of not reaching an absolute majority that would prevent a second round two weeks later.
Ince denied today at a press conference the existence of this alleged sex video and also denied the rumors that Erdogan has paid him to attend the elections and will weaken the opposition.
“I tell those who say that I have collected money from the (presidential) Palace so as not to retire: I am not afraid of these conspiracies, these false receipts, these montages. I have resisted 45 days. I withdraw from the candidacy, I do it for my country,” Ince said.
The dissemination of this video was announced last Tuesday by Ali Yesildag, a member of a clan with mafia connections, who thus claimed to take revenge on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for not helping him with his problems with the law.