Turkey's Gandhi Kilicdaroglu to fight against Erdogan in prez election

Turkey's bickering opposition leaders ended months of fierce debate  and agreed to name the head of the main secular party as their joint candidate against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May 14 polls. Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu  will be  the main challenger to President Tayyip Erdogan. Kilicdaroglu, 74, head of the country's second-biggest party, aims to emerge from  Erdogan's shadow and oust the president after a two-decade reign that has transformed the NATO member country and major emerging market economy.
A huge crowd of supporters cheered Kilicdaroglu, a former civil servant, as he was chosen by a six-party opposition alliance. Known as "Gandhi Kemal" or "Turkey's Gandhi" for his resemblance to Indian civil rights leader Mahatma Gandhi, the quiet-spoken leader offers a radically different vision in both substance and style to the fiery, charismatic Erdogan's. He promised his supporters that he would govern Turkey through consensus and consultation. "Our table is the table of peace. Our only goal is to take the country to days of prosperity, peace and joy," said Kilicdaroglu, chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP). Polls suggest a tight race in a country highly polarised after two decades of Erdogan's authoritarian rule. Economic crisis and errors during last month's earthquake may make him more vulnerable than in previous elections. Voters will decide not only who leads Turkey but how it is governed, where its economy is headed and what role it may play to ease conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East.