Transport Minister runs for Izmir metropolitan municipality

Announcing twelve mayoral candidates for the coming elections in March 2014, Erdogan announced Yildirim would be the AK Party's candidate for Izmir, where it has never won the metropolitan municipality. Stressing the "big Turkey vision," Erdogan stated, "We don't want Izmir to remain isolated and be left behind amid Turkey's progress and worldwide change." Erdogan nominated incumbent deputy of Manisa province Huseyin Tanriverdi for the Manisa metropolitan municipality, for which he will compete against Cengiz Ergun, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) candidate who won the previous election on March 29, 2009. Meanwhile, the ruling party nominated Mustafa Savas for Aydin metropolitan municipality and Osman Zolan for Denizli metropolitan municipality. Incumbent Mayor Sebahattin Akkaya will run for Burdur and incumbent Mayor Nevzat Bozkus for Kars. On the other hand, Erkan Eroglu will run for Tunceli, Nurullah Cahan for Usak, Ertugrul Caliskan for Karaman, Nuri Uzaktas for Isparta, Hasan Kara for Kilis, Mehmet Gurbuz for Osmaniye. Last Thursday, Erdogan renominated current Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas for the upcoming local elections. Ankara's incumbent Mayor Melih Gokcek, who has held the post since 1994, will run again in the capital.

Touching on the execution of Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah, Erdogan said, "may God give the Bangladeshi people strength."

"I want to remind the people in Bangladesh that they should not give up the political struggle," he noted.

Mollah was executed on Thursday night after Bangladesh's Supreme Court handed him the death penalty on September 17 for the crimes allegedly committed during the 1971 independence war from Pakistan.