Turkish opposition bloc faces split over joint candidate

By ANDREW WILKS
Associated Press

ISTANBUL (AP) — A leading Turkish opposition politician has indicated that her party is breaking with a major alliance formed to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in elections scheduled for May. A split in the opposition bloc ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections would be a major boost for Erdogan, whose popularity has been battered by a weak economy and his government’s response to a catastrophic earthquake. Meral Aksener, head of the nationalist Iyi Party, said Friday she was distancing herself from the six-party bloc, known as the Table of Six, over a dispute about selecting the candidate to run against Erdogan.