Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been Turkey’s Prime Minister since 2003, today declared his candidacy for president in front of his cheering supporters.

Although the role of the president is mostly symbolic, Erdogan has stated before that he would like to grant the president more executive powers and has hinted to do anything possible to keep his authority.

Eventhough he has faced a corruption scandal and mass protests, Erdogan is very popular among Turkey's working-class and conservative Muslims and is expected to win.

In contrast to the years before, when the parliament elected the president, this year’s election will be direct for the first time, which according to Erdogan is going to strengthen the president’s significance.

The opponent candidates are Ekmeleddin Ihsanolu, former head of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, who is said to be less charismatic than Erdogan, and Selahattin Demirtas from the main pro-Kurdish party.