Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday picked a nationalist former member of a hard-right party to run for mayor of Ankara in closely watched March 31 local elections.
Erdogan's Islamic conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) is trying to win back control of Turkey's main cities from the secular opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in the nationwide municipal elections.
The CHP rose to power in Istanbul and Ankara in 2019 elections that punctured the aura of political invincibility Erdogan has developed during his 21-year rule.
Erdogan has set himself the goal of winning back both cities along with opposition-held Izmir after securing re-election last year for a final five-year term as president.
On Thursday, the Turkish leader named Turgut Altinok -- a 62-year-old head of Ankara's working class Kecioren district -- as his candidate to take on incumbent Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas.
Erdogan had earlier this month selected former environment minister Murat Kurum to challenge Istanbul's mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, in the polls.
Most analysts believe Erdogan has a better chance of winning in Istanbul than he does Ankara.
Opinion polls consistently rank Ankara's current mayor as one of Turkey's most popular politicians.
Yavas appears to have benefitted from steering clear of national politics and developing a reputation as a man who can address Ankara's local needs.
Altinok's background is similar to that of Yavas.
Both were former members of the hard-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) before breaking off into different camps.
The MHP and Erdogan's AKP form a parliamentary alliance that held on to its majority in last year's general election.
Erdogan on Thursday sought to portray Yavas's CHP party as a hostage of "imperialist" and "terrorist" forces -- the same message he used to secure re-election last year.
"Our country's second largest party, the CHP, is acting as a servant of imperialism," Erdogan told supporters during a party congress in the capital.
"We are not only going to liberate our cities and give them proper services. We will also save them from these servants of imperialism and terrorism."
Erdogan's "terrorism" charge refers to the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, which joined the opposition alliance under a different name last year.
The opposition bloc has since fractured and the DEM is planning to run its own candidates in most major cities -- including Ankara.
But it has still not decided if it will field a mayoral candidate in Istanbul or stay out of the election to avoid splitting the opposition vote.
Istanbul's Imamoglu must secure re-election if he hopes to follow through on his stated ambition of becoming Turkey's president after Erdogan's term ends in 2028.
