Erdogan indicates Turkey elections to be held in May

YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated on Wednesday that elections will be held on May 14, sticking to his previous plan for the vote with a date just over three months after a devastating earthquake killed more than 45,000 people in Turkey, Reuters reports.

"This nation will do what is necessary on May 14, God willing," Reuters quoted Erdogan as saying in a speech to lawmakers from his ruling AK Party in parliament, in an apparent reference to elections.

There had been conflicting signals over the likely timing of the presidential and parliamentary elections since last month's earthquake, with some suggesting they could be postponed until later in the year or could beheld as scheduledon June 18.

Erdogan, aiming to extend his rule into a third decade, had previously said he wasbringing the votes forwardto May to avoid holidays in June.

Doubts have been expressed over election authorities' ability to make logistical arrangements for those affected in the quake zone, home to some 14 million people, to vote.