Kurdish politician challenging Erdogan from prison

Kurdish leader of the Democratic People's Party (HDP), Selahattin Demirtas, is challenging Turkey's current President, Recep Tayip Erdogan, with the campaign for president from prison cell.

From the prison where it has been located since November 2016, 45-year-old Demirtas has released electoral promises Tuesday for the June 24th presidential election.

In a Twitter post, he writes all his promises with a focus on pensioners as well as on empowering women and young people.

I'd love to have these speak to you face to face. For now, I'm enough to separate my thoughts from here. Hello, with a light arm”, wrote Demirtas in a publication including journalist Fatih Portal.

Demirtas is accused of participating and propaganda in favour of the Kurdish terrorist PKK organisation.

He has been sentenced to 142 years in prison, follows the tvlog.al, but the 45-year-old himself describes the charges as political.

Erdogan and Demirtas have also faced a 2014 presidential election, when Erdogan was elected president in the first tour with 52 percent of the vote, while Demirtas received about 10 percent.

But this race is being brought forward even tougher than the 2014 one, and Demirtasi's votes could prove crucial if Erdogan fails to be elected in the first round.