Today, the Turkish opposition held summit talks ahead of the crucial round of the presidential elections. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the candidate of the centre-left opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), fared much worse than he had hoped last weekend. That is why the opposition is now considering a new strategy.

Kilicdaroglu, 74, met with five other opposition party leaders about a new approach to defeating President Erdogan. The famous mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, is reportedly getting a much bigger role in the campaign.

Kilicdaroglu fared worse in the first round than polls had predicted. According to the official result, he received 44.9% of the vote and President Erdoğan received 49.5%. The opposition leader is said to have fired his PR team afterward.

There will be a decisive election round on May 28, because none of the candidates received more than half of the votes.

Today, Kilicdaroglu called President Erdogan a “fake world leader” who is “led by Russia.”

Erdogan today thanked his “dear friend” President Vladimir Putin for extending the grain deal with Ukraine. The deal has been extended by two months today. In the run-up to the final round of elections, the extension is a diplomatic victory for Erdogan.