Demirtas calls for unity after the crack in opposition alliance

Imprisoned Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtas called on the opposition to overcome their differences and unite, a day after the main opposition bloc fractured over who should run in Turkey's presidential election scheduled for May 14.

"We will be more united than yesterday, we will embrace each other more tightly. No me, no you, just us... Together we will succeed," he wrote on Twitter.

"The leaders have only one vote, just like you. The seal is in your hands. Walk the path you believe in and let the leaders follow you," he added.

Good Party leader Meral Aksener on Friday announced her party's withdrawal from the opposition Nation Alliance, saying they would not bow to pressure to accept CHP (Republican People’s Party) Chair Kilicdaroglu as the opposition's joint candidate.

In a video posted on social media hours after Aksener's announcement, Kilicdaroglu signaled that more parties would join their alliance, saying "the table needs to expand".

HDP (Peoples' Democratic Party) co-chair Mithat Sancar also called on the opposition to "rally around the goals of democracy, justice and freedom to inspire hope," following an extraordinary meeting of the Central Executive Committee of his party where they discussed alliance policies after nationalist Good Party left the main opposition bloc.

"The day is the day of hope and joint struggle. The HDP is aware of the responsibility it faces and is determined to fulfill it. No one despairs and no one is unsettled," he said.

HDP earlier announced it would run its own candidate fır the presidential elections but said it would reconsider this decision after massive earthquakes that hit Turkey on Feb. 6.