Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who has held the reins of power in the country for more than 20 years, on Friday was quoted as saying that local elections on March 31 will be his last.
The statement was carried by state-run Anadolu news agency.
Erdogan, who turned 70 last month, was re-elected as the country’s president last May for a five-year term.
“This is a final for me under the mandate given by the law; this is my last election…The result that will come out will be the transferring of a legacy to my siblings who will come after me,” the Erdogan statement, as circulated by Anadolu, read.
Disunity among Turkey’s opposition parties has raised hopes that the outspoken and often authoritarian Erdogan’s AK Party can win the highly prized metropolitan Istanbul race later this month.
The incumbent Istanbul mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, 52, is seen as the most formidable political rival to Erdogan and as a future presidential candidate.
