Erdogan sets stage for presidential bid



ANKARA - Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has touched off speculation on his political future after dropping clear hints that he is eyeing the presidency to build on his near-decade in power. Erdogan won re-election Sunday as leader of his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), which he has steered since 2003, winning an uncontested vote at a congress in Ankara. “This is not a farewell,” Erdogan said in a two-and-half-hour speech delivered in a packed sports arena. “God willing, we will be one and together under different missions, titles. We will be at the service of our nation.” That was seen as the clearest sign yet that the prime minister, who has notched up growing shares of the popular vote in the last three polls.

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